Aa history Lovers 2006 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
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volume of 400 pages, it sets forth their methods and experience exhaustively, and with much clarity and force. The first half of the book is a text aimed to show an alcoholic the attitude he ought to take and precisely the steps he may follow to effect his own recovery. He then finds full directions for approaching and working with other alcoholics. Two chapters are devoted to family relations and one to employers for the guidance of those who surround the sick man. There is a powerful chapter addressed to the agnostic, as the majority of the present members were of that description. Of particular interest to the physician is the chapter on alcoholism dealing mostly with its mental phenomena, as these men see it.
book these ex-alcoholics expect to establish new centers. Experience has shown that as soon as any community contains three or four active members, growth is inevitable, for the good reason that each member feels he must work with other alcoholics or perhaps perish himself.
permanent? No one can say. Yet, we at this hospital, from our observation of many cases, are willing to record our present opinion as a strong "Yes" to both questions. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3771. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Disease Model From: Billlwhite@AOL.COM . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/5/2006 8:52:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII A chronology of the disease concept and a quite exceptional paper by Ernie Kurtz on AA and the disease concept are posted at http://www.bhrm.org/papers/addpapers.htm
timderan@msn.com writes: > Subj: [AAHistoryLovers] Disease Model > Date: 10/5/2006 12:15:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time > From: timderan@msn.com > Reply-to: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com > To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com > Sent from the Internet > >
> I have a question, well probably a few of them. > > What is the history of the use of the term disease > in relation to alcoholism in AA? > > When did alcoholism become classified as a disease? > > I know that Dr. Bob used the disease model in relation > to alcoholism in order to emphasize what alcoholism was > and what it was like. But, I do not know if he pushed > the disease model as it is today. > > Can anyone help here? > > tmd
> >
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3772. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Disease Model From: John Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/5/2006 1:43:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Ernest Kurtz, a regular contributor to this site, has published a comprehensive monograph on the history of AA and the disease concept. It's called " Alcoholics Anonymous and the Disease Concept of Alcoholism." The essay is available on the Internet, at the Primary Purpose Group website of Spartanburg, South Carolina: (http://www.aaprimarypurpose.org/reading.htm)
http://www.aaprimarypurpose.org/literature/AAandDiseaseConcept-Kurtz.pdf The term "disease" is found in several Big Book stories, and in some of the newer pamphlets of AA. The term "disease" is only used once in the first eleven chapters of Big Book, and that's in the context of "spiritual disease". Newcomers from treatment centers are usually transfixed by the term "disease". john lee pittsburgh ________________________________________ timderan I have a question, well probably a few of them. What is the history of the use of the term disease in relation to alcoholism in AA? When did alcoholism become classified as a disease? I know that Dr. Bob used the disease model in relation to alcoholism in order to emphasize what alcoholism was and what it was like. But, I do not know if he pushed the disease model as it is today. Can anyone help here? tmd IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3773. . . . . . . . . . . . Question about AA''s link to Science of Mind
From: mama.duck . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/30/2006 2:25:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Hi everyone! I'm hoping to learn more about the history of AA. I have a sister-in-law who is big into Science of Mind. My husband is in Al-Anon and the three of us often have conversations that find phrases and wording to be so similar that I once spoke up about it. She told me that, and I can't remember exactly what she said, but in a nutshell she credits Science of Mind for the start of AA.
never heard any connection to Science of Mind. Does anyone know what I'm talking about or have any info about this? Thanks a bunch! mama duck IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3774. . . . . . . . . . . . Science of Mind, New Thought, and AA From: Glenn Chesnut . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/6/2006 6:22:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Religious Science (also known as Science of Mind), founded in 1927 by Ernest Holmes (1887-1960), was one version of the NEW THOUGHT movement.
just this one version) which had a major effect on early AA. New Thought was a religious movement originally stemming from the ideas of Phineas Parkhurst "Park" Quimby (1802-1866). From his study of hypnotism and the effect of placebos on disease, he came to the conclusion that the way we think can have a profound effect both on creating physical illness and healing physical illness. The NEW THOUGHT movement which developed out of Quimby's ideas pointed to the way our ideas and attitudes actually created the world we lived in. If I view the world as a hostile place full of people trying to do me harm, I will eventually live in a world filled with people who are trying to do me harm. If I view the world with seething resentments, I will create a world around me where I will increasingly find more and more things to resent. But if I view the world around me as filled with mostly good people, and if I regard the world with love and forgiveness towards all, I will increasingly find myself living in a world filled with good and loving people who treat me with kindness and tolerance.
sister-in-law is involved with, was one of the New Thought churches which developed out of Quimby's ideas. See their web site at http://www.religiousscience.org/ (2) Unity Church is the largest New Thought group at present, with over two million members in over fifteen different countries. See their web site at http://www.unity.org/
their web site at http://divinescience.com/ EMMET FOX (1886-1951) was a famous Divine Science minister. Early AA members went to hear him preach at New York's Church of the Healing Christ. Fox's book "The Sermon on the Mount" was especially influential in early AA and widely recommended reading for newcomers. JAMES ALLEN, "As a Man Thinketh" (see http://hindsfoot.org/kML3rc1.html for Mel B.'s edition of this little book) was another important New Thought book which was widely recommended reading for AA newcomers during the early period.
on the recommended reading list for AA newcomers used in early Akron AA. This is important, because it makes it clear that the New Thought movement was just as influential on early Akron (midwestern) AA as it was on early New York (east coast) AA. ______________________________
who wrote seriously on the teachings of Phineas Quimby. Evans was also the one who took the important step of integrating the philosophies of Quimby and Swedenborg. The presence of certain Swedenborgian elements in New Thought may have been one of the things which made New Thought so congenial to Bill and Lois Wilson (Lois had been brought up as a Swedenborgian). ______________________________
Positive Thinking") openly admitted the deep influence of New Thought on his ideas.
Influence People") presented a sort of secularized version of New Thought principles.
sort of ideas which appear in New Thought. (d) The Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837-1902), published a book called "COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS" in 1901, just a year before his death. There are ideas in his book which are very similar to New Thought concepts. Mel B. told me that when he spoke with Bill Wilson in 1956, Bill recommended that he read Bucke's book, and told him how important an influence it had been on his ideas. ______________________________
Mind for the start of AA." That would be overdoing it a little. AA started out as part of the Oxford Group, not as part of a New Thought group. From the Oxford Group, early AA got its understanding that only acts of divine grace can produce real psychic change. AA also got the substance of a good many of the twelve steps from the Oxford Group, including the ideas of confession and restitution (making amends). The Oxford Group was the most important source of ideas for early AA.
movement also. A good many of Bill W.'s statements about the nature of God in the Big Book are cast in New Thought terminology. The same thing could be said about the second most published AA author, Richmond Walker, in "Twenty-Four Hours a Day." The focus in the Big Book on removing resentment and fear from our lives (in the fourth through seventh steps) is very much a kind of New Thought approach to spirituality. By removing the disturbances in our thoughts, we will heal our lives at every level.
______________________________ APPENDIX 1: UNITY CHURCH BELIEFS Five basic Unity Church principles: 1. There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and as my life, God the Good. 2. Our essence is of God; therefore, we are inherently good. This God essence was fully expressed in Jesus, the Christ. 3. We are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held in mind. 4. Through prayer and meditation, we align our heart-mind with God. Denials and affirmations are tools we use. 5. Through thoughts, words and actions, we live the Truth we know.
1. God, Divine Mind, is the Source and Creator of all. There is no other enduring power. The nature of God is absolute good; therefore, all manifestations partake of good. What is called "evil" is a limited or incomplete expression of God or good. Evil's origin is ignorance. 2. We are spiritual beings, ideas in the Mind of God, created in God's image and likeness. The ideal expression for every human being is the pattern every person is seeking to bring forth. Each individual manifests the Christ in his or her own unique fashion. The perfect expression of the Christ is, therefore, different for each person. 3. Jesus was a special person in history who expressed perfection and thereby became the Christ, or Jesus Christ. He was a Teacher who demonstrated the importance of thoughts, words, and deeds in shaping the life and world of the individual. 4. Jesus' teaching was based on prayer, which to Him was conscious communion with God. Preparation for prayer involves the use of the spoken word, the creative power of God, which is made practical through denials and affirmations. Unity teaches that repeated use of statements of Truth (denials and affirmations) establishes right patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. This is one way individuals use the creative power of God to take dominion over mind, body, and affairs.
there is One Infinite Mind which of necessity includes all that is, whether it be the intelligence in man, the life in the animal, or the invisible Presence which is God. In it we learn to have a spiritual sense of things. The Science of Mind is intensely practical because it teaches us how to use the Mind Principle for definite purposes, such as helping those who are sick, impoverished, or unhappy. Each one of us should learn to become a practitioner of this science, a demonstrator of its Principle, a conscious user of its Power. Power already exists, but the existence of Power is of no particular value to us until we use it. We must not only be conscious of Power, but we must be actively conscious of it. This is one of the first lessons we learn in the Science of Mind.
the Universe is fundamentally spiritual -- it has intelligence, purpose, beauty and order. Whether we call it God, spirit, energy, or Universal Intelligence, every person, place and thing emanates from this spiritual universe. We believe this Universal Intelligence is within us, as well as around us, and that we are conscious of it. The way of life we teach and practice is learning how to live in accordance with spiritual principles. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - APPENDIX 3: DIVINE SCIENCE BELIEFS God is all, both invisible and visible. One Presence, One Mind, One Power is all. This One that is all is Perfect Life, Perfect Love, and Perfect Substance. Man is the individualized expression of God and is ever one with this Perfect Life, Perfect Love, and Perfect Substance.
It proceeds from Divine Life, which is Good in all its manifestations. There is only one Power in the Universe, the Power we call God. There is no evil except that which is man-made. The normal state of man is abounding health. The Divine Purpose is to express the Joy of Life. The foundation truth of Divine Science is that limitless Being, God [Good], is equally present everywhere and is the ALL of everything. God is pure Spirit, absolute, changeless, eternal, manifesting in all creation. "God is everywhere, therefore God is here. What God is is everywhere, therefore what God is is here."
happens to the darkness which fills a room when the light is turned on? The darkness does not move out and go somewhere else, it simply does not exist in the presence of light. Darkness is not a reality, it is merely the absence of light. In the same way when the individual thought is centered upon the omnipresence of good, evil thought does not move out and continue to exist elsewhere; it simply becomes nonexistent. Evil has no reality within itself; it can have existence only so long as an individual supports it by his belief in it.
and AA
From: Mel Barger . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/6/2006 9:07:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Hi Folks, Glenn has written an excellent summary of New Thought here. If anybody is interested in pursuing this subject further, I recommend "Spirits in Rebellion," by Charles S. Braden, Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, 1963. It can probably be obtained by library loan or it's possible a copy can be purchased on the Internet. Braden, a longtime professor of history and literature of religions at Northwestern University, really covers the waterfront in detailing the rise and development of New Thought.
Fox's "The Sermon on the Mount." "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen is a small book that really gets to the basics of the importance of thought. There are many others, and I've observed that AA members can use them profitably to supplement and reinforce what we have in AA.
(melb at accesstoledo.com) _________________________________________
From: "Glenn Chesnut" Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 6:22 PM Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Science of Mind, New Thought, and AA Religious Science (also known as Science of Mind), founded in 1927 by Ernest Holmes (1887-1960), was one version of the NEW THOUGHT movement.
just this one version) which had a major effect on early AA. New Thought was a religious movement originally stemming from the ideas of Phineas Parkhurst "Park" Quimby (1802-1866). From his study of hypnotism and the effect of placebos on disease, he came to the conclusion that the way we think can have a profound effect both on creating physical illness and healing physical illness. The NEW THOUGHT movement which developed out of Quimby's ideas pointed to the way our ideas and attitudes actually created the world we lived in. If I view the world as a hostile place full of people trying to do me harm, I will eventually live in a world filled with people who are trying to do me harm. If I view the world with seething resentments, I will create a world around me where I will increasingly find more and more things to resent. But if I view the world around me as filled with mostly good people, and if I regard the world with love and forgiveness towards all, I will increasingly find myself living in a world filled with good and loving people who treat me with kindness and tolerance.
sister-in-law is involved with, was one of the New Thought churches which developed out of Quimby's ideas. See their web site at http://www.religiousscience.org/ (2) Unity Church is the largest New Thought group at present, with over two million members in over fifteen different countries. See their web site at http://www.unity.org/
their web site at http://divinescience.com/ EMMET FOX (1886-1951) was a famous Divine Science minister. Early AA members went to hear him preach at New York's Church of the Healing Christ. Fox's book "The Sermon on the Mount" was especially influential in early AA and widely recommended reading for newcomers. JAMES ALLEN, "As a Man Thinketh" (see http://hindsfoot.org/kML3rc1.html for Mel B.'s edition of this little book) was another important New Thought book which was widely recommended reading for AA newcomers during the early period.
on the recommended reading list for AA newcomers used in early Akron AA. This is important, because it makes it clear that the New Thought movement was just as influential on early Akron (midwestern) AA as it was on early New York (east coast) AA. ______________________________
who wrote seriously on the teachings of Phineas Quimby. Evans was also the one who took the important step of integrating the philosophies of Quimby and Swedenborg. The presence of certain Swedenborgian elements in New Thought may have been one of the things which made New Thought so congenial to Bill and Lois Wilson (Lois had been brought up as a Swedenborgian). ______________________________
Positive Thinking") openly admitted the deep influence of New Thought on his ideas.
Influence People") presented a sort of secularized version of New Thought principles.
sort of ideas which appear in New Thought. (d) The Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837-1902), published a book called "COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS" in 1901, just a year before his death. There are ideas in his book which are very similar to New Thought concepts. Mel B. told me that when he spoke with Bill Wilson in 1956, Bill recommended that he read Bucke's book, and told him how important an influence it had been on his ideas. ______________________________
Mind for the start of AA." That would be overdoing it a little. AA started out as part of the Oxford Group, not as part of a New Thought group. From the Oxford Group, early AA got its understanding that only acts of divine grace can produce real psychic change. AA also got the substance of a good many of the twelve steps from the Oxford Group, including the ideas of confession and restitution (making amends). The Oxford Group was the most important source of ideas Download 13.83 Mb. Share with your friends:
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