Alcoholics Anonymous

Is Alcoholics Anonymous Biblical?

Alcohol Anonymous is based on the Twelve Step program that it has defined.  The twelve steps of the program are:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

At first glance, these twelve steps have some similarity to certain principles found in the Book of Truth (The Bible), and might even appear to have been derived from the Book of Truth.  However, a little scrutiny of these steps shows that there is some very serious conflict with the Book of Truth.

Step two says, "Power greater than ourselves", which could be any kind of supernatural power, including Spirits of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods), Angels of Lies, and the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil).

Steps three and eleven say, "God as we understood Him", which could include any understanding of God based on anything including the Koran, the Vedas, the Talmud, the Book of Mormon, the writings of the Gnostics, the teachings of the False Church of Rome, and any number of other sources.  So, while someone of a Christian background might mentally substitute in the Father of Truth in these steps, these steps are not pointing anyone else to the Father of Truth.

Steps four and ten allows a person to use any standard they want to make a moral inventory of themselves, which does not have to be the standard in the Book of Truth.

Steps six and seven, only speak of "defects of character" and "shortcomings".  These are not the same thing as sin, which is transgressing the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) (1 John 3:4).

Step twelve says to take the message of these twelve steps to alcoholics.  This is very different than the command of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) to carry the message of the Good News to all the world (Mark 16:15).

So, in reality, these twelve steps are contrary to the Book of Truth.

The reason that these steps could be understood by someone of a Christian background is that the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous got many of these concepts from an informal Christian fellowship called the Oxford Group.

In 1934 AD, a friend of Bill Wilson had been a drunk, but had found sobriety through the Man of Truth with the help of the Oxford Group.  This friend told Wilson that the only way to sobriety was through the Man of Truth.

Then Wilson went on a drinking binge again, and was admitted for treatment for the fourth time to Towns hospital under the care of Doctor Silkworth.  While there Wilson cried out, that he would totally surrender to the Father of Truth, if He would deliver him from alcoholism.  Instantly, Wilson had no more symptoms, and indeed never drank alcohol again.

Doctor Silkworth did not understand it when Wilson was suddenly sober, and had no more need for treatment.  However, he had told Wilson to keep doing it, if it was working. 

Doctor Bob Smith had also learned how to overcome being a drunk from the Oxford Group, but was relapsing.  Bill Wilson then reached out to Doctor Bob Smith to help the doctor stay sober.  They applied what they had learned from The Oxford Group to stay sober.

Bill Wilson and Doctor Bob Smith in turned sought to do the same for other alcoholics.

All might have been well, if it had not been for the influence of Doctor Silkworth.

Doctor Silkworth had previously convinced Wilson that alcoholism was a physical allergy and a mental obsession.  Doctor Silkworth did not see any spiritual dimension at all to alcoholism, so he had told Wilson that alcoholism could only be treated, but never permanently cured.  So, despite his own experience, Wilson came to the conclusion of "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic".

Soon Wilson and Doctor Smith found that many alcoholics did not want to hear that the Man of Truth was the only source of overcoming alcoholism, as the Oxford group had taught them.

So, Wilson and Doctor Smith began changing the wording of what they were taught, as well as the root cause of the alcoholism, and how to deal with it.  Most importantly, they changed the goal from permanent deliverance from alcoholism, to continual recovery from alcoholism.

Soon, they had a group of one hundred men seeking help to recover from alcoholism, who referred to themselves as "a nameless squad of drunkards".  Inspired by their success, Wilson wrote a book called "Alcoholics Anonymous", that featured the Twelve Steps in 1938 AD.

The group took on the title of the book as the name for their organization, and Alcoholics Anonymous became the first twelve step program.

According to Wilson, he had consulted the dead and Spirits of Lies in writing this book.  In particular, he stated that a 15th century monk named "Saint Boniface", had been the most help.  In fact, Wilson and his wife built a "spook room" in their house, where they continued to consult the dead and Spirits of Lies for the rest of their lives.

Wilson also had at least one adulterous affair with a woman for a number of years, and even left ten percent of his estate to her in his will.  He also experimented with LSD and other drugs.

Wilson also became a heavy smoker, and this is what brought about his death in 1971 AD.

So the Twelve Step program was the work of a wicked man under the influence of Spirits of Lies.  There can be no doubt that the Twelve Step program was not from the Father of Truth.

There is complete deliverance from alcoholism through the Father of Truth like Wilson experienced, even though Wilson did not keep his promise to the Father of Truth.

This deliverance begins with understanding what the Book of Truth says about alcoholism.  The Book of Truth says that alcoholism is primarily a spiritual problem with a spiritual solution.

The Book of Truth does not call getting drunk, "alcoholism", it calls getting drunk, "sin" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).  It says that those who get drunk will have no part in the kingdom of the Father of Truth (Galatians 5:19-21).

People get drunk because of the sinfulness of their flesh (Romans 7:5).  The sin that lives in their flesh causes them to keep getting drunk (Romans 7:17-20).  They can never free themselves from the constant internal desire of their flesh to get drunk (Romans 7:21-23).

The only means to be delivered from the sin that causes them to keep getting drunk is through the Man of Truth (Romans 7:24-25).  The Man of Truth will set them free from the sin that causes them to get drunk through the work of the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) (Romans 8:1-4).  The Spirit of Truth is given to everyone who comes into the House of Truth to deliver them from the sin that lives in their flesh (Romans 8:5-10).

So, deliverance from alcoholism comes from the One Step program of coming into the House of Truth.

So come into the House of Truth, by surrendering control of your life to the Man of Truth, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!