A.A.’s
Roots in the Bible, Part 3
1
Corinthians 13
(The
Parts Dr. Bob Considered “Absolutely Essential”)
1
Corinthians 13 is often called the Bible's
“love” chapter because it focuses on the
importance of love in the Christian's
life. In the King James Version, the word
“charity” is used, but the underlying
Greek word is agape, which is more
properly translated “love.” And the most
frequently quoted characteristics of love
are contained in the following verses
from the King James Version of the Bible
(which is the version the A.A. pioneers
used):
Charity
[love] suffereth long, and is kind;
charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not
itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave
itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is
not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, Rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth
(1 Corinthians 13:4-6).
The New International Version, which is
much used today, renders 1 Corinthians
13:4-6:
Love
is patient, love is kind . It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs. Love does not delight
in evil but rejoices with the truth.
One of the most popular books in early
A.A. was Professor Henry Drummond's study
of 1 Corinthians 13. The title of the
book, The Greatest Thing in the World,
was taken from the last verse of the Corinthians
chapter, which reads:
And
now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
three; but the greatest of these is
charity (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Drummond's book was part of Dr. Bob's
library, and a copy was still owned by
Dr. Bob's family when the author interviewed
Dr. Bob’s son and daughter several years
ago. A.A. In much earlier years, A.A.
Oldtimer Bob E. had sent a memo to Bill
Wilson's wife, Lois, in which Bob E. listed
The Greatest Thing in the World
as one of three books Dr. Bob regularly
provided to alcoholics with whom he worked.
In fact, Dr. Bob's enthusiasm for Drummond's
book is dramatized by the following remarks
of the wife of A.A. Oldtimer Clarence
S. Dorothy S. M. said:
Once,
when I was working on a woman in Cleveland,
I called and asked him [Dr. Bob], “What
do I do for somebody who is going into D.T.'s?”
He told me to give her the medication, and
he said, “When she comes out of it and she
decides she wants to be a different woman,
get her Drummond's ‘The Greatest Thing in
the World.’ Tell her to read it through
every day for 30 days, and she'll be a different
woman”(See DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, p. 310).
Henry Drummond himself had made a similar
suggestion half a century earlier, at
the close of the lecture in which he delivered
his “greatest thing in the world” address
(which later became incorporated in the
best-selling) book. Drummond said:
Now
I have all but finished. How many of you
will join me in reading this chapter [1
Corinthians 13] once a week for the next
three months? A man did that once and it
changed his whole life. Will you do it?
It is for the greatest thing in the world.
You might begin by reading it every day,
especially the verses which describe the
perfect character. “Love suffereth long,
and is kind; loveth envieth not; love vaunteth
not itself.” Get these ingredients into
your life (See Drummond, The Greatest
Thing in the World, p 53).
The important Drummond influence on A.A.
from 1 Corinthians 13 can be seen from
Drummond's own simplified description
of love's ingredients. Drummond
listed nine ingredients of “love” as he
saw love specifically defined in that
portion of that chapter of the Bible (See
Drummond, The Greatest Thing
in the World, pp. 26-27). And we here
set them forth with references to correlative
A.A. ideas and correlative Bible verses:
|
Drummond's
Explanation
Authorized (King James)
NIV Version
A.A. Big Book 3rd ed.
Examples |
|
|
|
1.
Patience
“Love suffereth long.”
Patient
p. 67, 70, 83 111, 163. |
|
|
|
2.
Kindness
“And is kind.”
Kind
pp. 67, 82, 83, 86 |
|
|
|
3.
Generosity
“Love envieth not.”
Does not envy
pp. 145, cf. 82 |
|
|
|
4.
Humility “Love
vaunteth not itself, is not
Does not boast
pp. 13, 57, 68, puffed
up” 87-88 |
|
|
|
5.
Courtesy
“Doth not behave itself
is not proud
p. 69 unseemly” |
|
|
|
6.
Unselfishness
“Seeketh not her own.”
not self-seeking
pp. xxv, 93, 127 |
|
|
|
7.
Good Temper
“Is not easily provoked.”
not easily angered
pp. 19, 67, 70, 83-84, 125, 118 |
|
|
|
8.
Guilelessness
“Thinketh no evil.”keeps no record
of
pp. 19, 67, 70,83- wrongs
84, 118, 125 |
|
|
|
9.
Sincerity “Rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but does not delight
in pp. xiv, xxvii, 13 rejoiceth
in the truth” |
|
evil but rejoices with 26, 28, 32,
44, the truth
47, 55, 57-58, 63-65, 67,
70, 73, 117,140, 145 |
Dr. Bob stressed that essence of A.A.'s
steps could be simmered down to love and
service (See DR. BOB and the
Good Oldtimers, p. 338). He presented
God as a God of love. (See DR. BOB
and the Good Oldtimers, p.
110). Dr. Bob's wife, Anne, frequently
quoted the “God is love” verses in 1 John
4:8; 4:16 (DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers,
pp. 116-17). Dr. Bob and Anne both studied
Toyohiko Kagawa's book, Love: The Law
of Life, and Kagawa devoted an entire
chapter of that book not only to 1 Corinthians
13, but also to Drummond's analysis of
chapter Thirteen of 1 Corinthians in Drummond's
The Greatest Thing in the World.
Hence there was a great deal of emphasis
among the A.A. pioneers of the spiritual
principle of love as it is defined in
the Bible. In fact, the Big Book itself
talks repeatedly of the principle of love
(Big Book, pp. 83-84, 86, 118, 122, 153).
Further explaining the great store placed
in the Corinthians love principle is Jesus
Christ's well-known message, as stated
in Mark 12:30-31. These Gospel verses
deal with what Jesus called the two great
commandments:
And
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy strength;
this is the first commandment. And the second
is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these.
The foregoing verses, from the Gospel
of Mark in the New Testament, were
cited for the standard of “Absolute Love,”
as it was discussed in AA of Akron's A
Manual for Alcoholics Anonymous (one
of the four pamphlets commissioned by
Dr. Bob for use among early AAs). The
Old Testament also contained the very
same commandments to which Jesus referred,
underlining the importance of love of
God and of neighbor in the commandments
of the Bible.
From examining 1 Corinthians 13; from
the frequent mention of “love” in the
Big Book; from studying the reading and
remarks of Dr. Bob and Anne; from Bill
Wilson's mention of Corinthians; and from
the repeated mention of 1 Corinthians
13 in A.A.'s religious sources, the details
of the Corinthians impact on A.A. seem
quite clear. The love “ingredients” as
they were summarized by Henry Drummond
permeate A.A.’s basic text and can fairly
be proclaimed to be among those “principles
to be practiced” at the level of A.A.’s
Twelfth Step. The basic principle is love.
The component virtues are patience; tolerance;
kindness; humility; honesty; unselfishness;
consideration for others; and the avoidance
of anger, jealousy, envy, pride, and wrongdoing.
As previously covered, almost every one
of these virtues can be found as well
in Jesus’ sermon on the mount and the
Book of James. In the sermon on the mount,
from the standpoint of defining elements
of seeking, receiving, and doing the will
of God. And, in James, from the standpoint
of action and service to God and service
to others through reliance upon God.
These were also the very the principles
of love and service of which Dr. Bob spoke
in his farewell address and defined as
the essence of A.A.’s spiritual program
of recovery.
Copyright
© Dick B.
Dick
B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; 808
874 4876; dickb@dickb.com
http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml;
http://www.dickb-blog.com |
::
Copyright © Silkworth.net |