Can you be an atheist in AA?

There is room in A.A. for people of all shades of belief and non-belief. Many members believe in some sort of god, and we have members who come from and practice all sorts of religions, but many are also atheist or ag- nostic. As A.A. co-founder Bill W.

What does AA say about spirituality?

AA itself believes it is indeed spirituality that is the answer, explicitly stating that recovery is achieved through a “spiritual awakening” from working through its 12-step program (“The great fact is just this and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our …

What AA says about god?

Against this background of despair, Alcoholics Anonymous comes along telling him that God is in him, that God can be in him as much as God can be anywhere, that if God is not in him God is not everywhere and so cannot be God. By the witness of another alcoholic, now sober, the life is breathed into his soul.

Can you be in AA and not believe in god?

The biggest support groups out there in recovery are AA and NA. You should know that regardless of your religious affiliations or no affiliations or god belief, you are welcome in AA and NA. The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop drinking or using.

Can you do the 12 steps if you don’t believe in God?

You Don’t Have to Be Religious to Attend 12-Step Programs Or: I don’t believe in the whole God thing. You don’t have to be religious in the slightest to benefit from 12-step programs. At most, these principles can be considered spiritual in nature.

What does AA say about higher power?

Alcoholics Anonymous Except in a few cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power.” “Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!”

What are the spiritual principles of AA?

What are the Spiritual Principles of AA

• Acceptance. Admitting that you are powerless over alcohol is the first step and first principle that a recovering addict must complete.
• Hope. Hope can be tough for those that have hit rock-bottom, but it must be found.
• Faith.
• Courage.
• Honesty.
• Patience.
• Humility.
• Willingness.

Who am I to say there is no God big book?

Pioneer A.A., minister’s son, and southern farmer, he asked, “Who am I to say there is no God?” takes him over long drives on bad roads. His parishioners are limited in number, but his friends are many, for to him race, creed, or social position makes no difference. It is not long before he drives up in the buggy.

How does the concept of God in AA compare to the Bible?

First, the concept of God in AA is not the biblical teaching of Yahweh, the one true God, Creator, and Redeemer. God, according to Alcoholics Anonymous, is “a Power greater than ourselves” (Step 2), but “God” is whatever the alcoholic “understands Him to be” (Steps 3 and 11).

Why does the Bible not call God Yahweh?

The reason the Holman Bible uses ‘Yahweh’ only occasionally is because of the common pattern of Christian piety. E Ray Clendenen, an associate editor of the HCSB explains: We did not render the majority of occurrences of YHWH as Yahweh because our goal is not only to be accurate but to use an English style that is most familiar to people.

Why is the book not God called not God?

Curiously, the very title of this book, “Not-God,” focuses attention on one of AA’s most explicit themes: that recovery from alcoholism requires the alcoholic to give up the grandiosity of “playing God” — or, to quote Bill Wilson again: “Most alcoholics…like adolescents….think that they have grown up.

What does the Bible say about no other gods before God?

Sometimes Elohim refers to plural “gods,” as in “You shall have no other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:7). At other times it refers to the singular “God,” as in “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).