Big Book Study - Post #13
Jim K
Good morning and welcome back!
Today we are at Chapter 4 - We Agnostics, Page 44.
We should start by defining some terms. "Agnostic" is comprised of two parts: "A" which is the Greek prefix for "Without" and "gnostic" which is "Knowledge." With this in mind our definition of "Agnostic" is: Without Knowledge of God. Although used interchangeably, "agnostic" and "atheist" mean two very different things. To be "Atheist" is to claim that there is no God, as opposed to being without knowledge of God (agnostic). How many times have we seen lists of questions that will allow you to diagnose your own alcoholism? Ten, twenty, fifty question each? Starting at paragraph 1 on page 44, we find that there are two questions: Question 1: "If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or Question 2: "if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic."
Reading through to the top of page 45 several powerful statements are made: "Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly." What does that mean? What does that tell us about willpower? About human resources (Fellowship) alone? About our ability to win in hand to hand combat with the alcoholic obsession?
At the top of paragraph 1: "Lack of power, that was our dilemma (Powerlessness). We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a POWER GREATER THAN OURSELVES. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?"
Now we come to the purpose of the Big Book and the desired result of the AA program: "Well, that's exactly what this book is about. Its main object [and the object of the AA Program] is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself WHICH WILL SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM (emphasis added)."
Let's turn back for a second to The Foreword to the first edition. The second sentence says the following: "TO SHOW OTHER ALCOHOLICS PRECISELY HOW WE HAVE RECOVERED IS THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK." (This sentence was written in ALL CAPS in the first edition of the book).
To recover from alcoholism, we need to find a Power greater than ourselves which will solve our problem. This book has all of the directions necessary to bring about permanent recovery from alcoholism, which is our common problem. The answers are within the text and throughout the coming weeks we will continue to delve into the solution.
One of the things I was thinking about regarding this chapter is the name "We Agnostics", not "The Agnostics" - I mean, it's almost if they assumed that everyone was an agnostic. Anyone care to explore why they named this chapter the way they did?
With our next post we will continue on Page 46.
Have a great day!
Jim
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