APPENDIX B

The Evolution of the Twelve Steps of A.A.

When Bill Wilson sat down to write what were to be the Twelve Steps of A.A, he didn't just get them out of thin air. He had a basis for the Steps, founded on spiritual principles already in place. There come from the precepts of the Oxford Group, the Washington Temperance Movement (The Washingtonians), Biblical principles, and literature such as: The Common Sense of Drinking, by Richard Peabody, For Sinners Only, by A.J. Russell, I Was A Pagan, by V.C Kitchen, The Varieties of Religious Experience, by William James, and others.

When Bill wrote the Twelve Steps, six were already in place in one form or another. Bill felt that the six steps had some loopholes through which an alcoholic could slip. He was not satisfied with the six already in place and decided to expand upon them so alcoholics could have a program of recovery, separate from the Oxford Group and separate from association with them.

When he put the Twelve Steps in their original form, Bill felt at ease with them. They numbered twelve; and this, as has been reported, was a significant number for Bill. Bill noted that Jesus had twelve disciples, and the as-yet-unnamed-movement now had Twelve Steps to recovery.

The author believes the following is a simple evolution of the Steps:

I) In 1933, The Oxford Group had Four Practical Spiritual Activities*:

1. The sharing of our sins and temptations with another Christian life given to God, and to use Sharing as Witness to help others, still unchanged, to recognize and acknowledge their sins.

2. Surrender of our life, past, present and future, into God's keeping and direction.

3. Restitution to all we have wronged directly or indirectly.

4. Listening to, accepting, relying on God's guidance and carry it out in everything we do or say, great or small.

*The Layman with a notebook, WHAT IS THE OXFORD GROUP (Oxford University Press, 1933)

II) By 1938, there were six steps of recovery that had been adapted by the Alcoholic Squadron of the Oxford Group in Akron, in part from the Practical Spiritual Activities as were used in Akron, Ohio*.

1. We admitted that we were licked, that we were powerless over alcohol.

2. We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins.

3. We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence.

4. We made restitution to all those we had harmed by our drinking.

5. We tried to help other alcoholics, with no thought of reward in money or prestige.

6. We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for the power to practice these precepts.

*These steps are taken from A.A. COMES OF AGE (New York; A.A. Works Publishing, 1957) p. 160f.

III) The next phase comes from the pre-publication "multilith" edition of the book which was sent to early members and those interested in the movement. There were only 400 of these printed by the office owned by Bill Wilson and Hank P. on 17 Williams Street in Newark, New Jersey. Ruth Hock was the secretary who did all of the typing. The beginning of the fifth chapter, entitled, HOW IT WORKS is quoted in its original format. The complete "Multilith" copy can be ordered from the A.A. Archives at P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, N.Y. 10163.

HOW IT WORKS

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our directions. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a way of life which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it -- then you are ready to follow directions.

At some of these you may balk. You may think you can find an easier softer way. We doubt if you can. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.

Remember that you are dealing with alcohol -- cunning, baffling, powerful: Without help it is too much for you. But there is One who has all power -- That One is God. You must find Him now!

Half measures will avail you nothing. You stand at the turning point. Throw yourself under His protection and care with complete abandon.

Now we think you can take it! Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as your Program of Recovery.

1. 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 and direction 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 willing that God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly, on our knees, asked Him to remove our shortcomings -- holding nothing back.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make complete 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 contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of this course of action, we tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

You may exclaim, "What an order! I can't go through with it." But do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after, have been designed to sell you three pertinent ideas:

(a) That you are alcoholic and cannot manage your own life.

(b) That probably no human power can relieve your alcoholism.

(c) That God can and will.

If you are not convinced on these vital issues, you ought to re-read the book to this point or else throw it away!

IV) "...as we understand Him" was not in the multilitith version of the steps. Jimmy B., an atheist, insisted, along with Hank P. and other atheists and agnostics, that there be a change and that "God" be deleted at this step. Most members in Ohio felt that the spiritual program should be kept and emphasized; and most of the New York members felt, that it should be completely removed. This "God-as-we-understand-Him" phrase was a compromise to keep everybody happy. Since there were more members in Ohio, and they had the longest amount of sobriety, the spiritual flavor was retained.

V) The Twelve Steps, as they are printed in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous from 1939 to the present:

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.

[*Author's note: In the first edition on page 72, the word "these" is used. In the second through sixteenth printing of the first edition, the word "those" is used. In all sixteen printings of the second edition and all of the preceding printings of the third edition, the word "these" is used on page 60.]

The first edition was copyrighted by Works Publishing, Co., 1939. The copyright for the first edition of the book ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS were allowed to lapse, by an oversight, and are currently in the public domain.

The second edition was copyrighted by A.A. Publishing and then A.A. World Services, Inc., 1955.

The third edition was copyrighted by A.A. World Services, Inc., 1976.