Comments on: BIG BOOK THEOLOGY: “We Agnostics” and William James (By James R.)

By: ivory jackson

ivory jackson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:34:03 +0000

I believe there is a higher power. Both positive and negative. As I grow old the question of what this power is gets more and more difficult. I’m 12 years sober and prayed for 15 continuing days before being uplifted and enlighted. I haven’t drank but a glass or two of white wine with a neighbor. For me that’s a miracle. No matter this wonderful gift to me, I don’t understand religion on a whole. I go to church to sing because I like singing in he choir–but I don’t believe a lot of the bible stories. Man wrote the bible. If I mention this to someone at church I’m a heretic. I don’t believe Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt, that Jonah went down to Ninevah in the belly of a whale, and stories similar to that. It’s more myth and legend. I feel there’s a higher power because I canot make a flower, a waterfall, and many beautiful natural things. We have so many cul-turals in NYC, we did’t (12 yrs ago)discuss Jesus is not at our meetings, only God.

I’m half religious and half confused.

By: michael yunger

michael yunger — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:04:02 +0000

HELP PLEASE….The closest i can come to a higher power is my possible belief in deism. I’m in Sacramento and there are no agnostic meetings…only the ones that say the “our father” at the end which as a recovering catholic i find repulsive. For myself I don’t believe there is a higher power (or Possibly i dont understand what it means to have one, be it my children, dog, or tv remote,

Thanks for any input you can offer.

By: John Callaway

John Callaway — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:00:01 +0000

“Act as if” and “It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than think your way into a new way of acting” are classic AA phrases that James would have agreed with whole-heartedly.

A contemporary and friend of James wrote about what he called “the fixation of belief” and suggested that beliefs needed to be tested by personal experience to survive. That is: it was the consequences of beliefs that mattered and beliefs could be reduced 100% to their personal consequences. That brings us back to “HOW” – “Honesty, openness, and willingness”. James would have agreed in the importance of these principles. Finally, I remember an old timer telling me once, “If you get sober, you’ll change your story.” Another classic piece of James straight out of the Will to Believe.

AA converted me to “healthy-mindedness” not Christianity.

By: Richard G. Burns, J.D. (pen name Dick B.)

Richard G. Burns, J.D. (pen name Dick B.) — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:17:13 +0000

The problem with this discussion is that is assumes some facts not in evidence. There is no evidence that A.A. today is, can be, or will become a Christian fellowship. It isn’t. Anyone who attends A.A. should readily acknowledge the obvious. Next, there is ample evidence that early Akron A.A. was a Christian fellowship. Members regularly studied the Book of James, Jesus’ sermon on the mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. They were required to profess belief in God and make a decision for Christ. Early AAs were cured by reliance on the power of God. And one should read page 191 of the Big Book for Bill Wilson’s own statement. The final point is that belief in God, acceptance of Christ, and study of the Bible are still quite available, viable, and dear to many of us in today’s are Christians. Love and tolerance are our code. Criticism of religious beliefs is not.