What are the a, b, c of p. 60 ("probably no human power… God could and would if He were sought")?
In short:
- They're three "pertinent ideas" on page 60 of Chapter 5, right after the Twelve Steps: (a) "That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives." (b) "That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism." (c) "That God could and would if He were sought." (p. 60)
- They're a summary of what the book has already said. "Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas" (p. 60).
- The next sentence moves the reader on: "Being convinced, we were at Step Three" (p. 60).
- Two small words carry weight: "probably" in (b) and "if He were sought" in (c). The book hedges and states a condition, and both match what it said in the earlier chapters.
Where they sit
Page 60 finishes the list of Steps and then reassures the reader. "What an order! I can't go through with it." (p. 60) is answered with "Do not be discouraged." (p. 60) and "We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection." (p. 60)
Then come the a, b, c, introduced as ideas the book has already made clear, not as new rules. Being convinced of them, "we were at Step Three" (p. 60). The book goes straight into what Step Three means, starting with "The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success." (p. 60)
The three ideas cover the ground of Steps One and Two: (a) is close to Step One's wording, "our lives had become unmanageable" (p. 59), and (b) and (c) to Step Two's "a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity" (p. 59). The book doesn't label them that way. What it says is that being convinced of them puts the reader at Step Three.
What each one summarizes
The book names its sources for them: the description of the alcoholic (Chapters 2–3), the chapter to the agnostic (Chapter 4), and the members' stories.
(a) We were alcoholic and couldn't manage our own lives. Chapter 3: "We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking." (p. 30) Chapter 2: "We are without defense against the first drink." (p. 24)
(b) Probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. The word "probably" fits the earlier chapters, which keep leaving a little room: - Chapter 3 says the alcoholic has no effective defense against the first drink, and "Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense." (p. 43) - Whether a person can quit "upon a nonspiritual basis," it says, depends on how far he has already lost the power to choose (p. 34). - If anyone showing loss of control can turn around and "drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him" (p. 31). - A doctor quoted on p. 43 says that two of the members "were 100% hopeless, apart from divine help" (p. 43).
(c) God could and would if He were sought. Chapter 4 sets the condition low. The reader needs only to ask "Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?" (p. 47) "We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him." (p. 46) And the God sought is the reader's own conception: "When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God." (p. 47)
Does context change the common reading?
Mostly it confirms it. The a, b, c are what they look like: a short summary of the book's case so far, leading to Step Three. What context adds is a warning not to drop the small words. "Probably" is the book's own hedge, and it matches a book that says "except in a few rare cases" (p. 43). "If He were sought" is a condition, and Chapter 4 says how little the seeking has to begin with.
Read it yourself
- Chapter 5, "How It Works" (pp. 58–71), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt5.pdf
- Chapter 3, "More About Alcoholism" (pp. 30–43): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt3.pdf
- Chapter 4, "We Agnostics" (pp. 44–57): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt4.pdf
- Related: What do "selfishness—self-centeredness!" and "self-will run riot" mean in the Big Book? · What is the Third Step prayer, and where is it? · Do I have to be religious to work the Steps? · What does Step 1 say? Powerless over what?
- The full book, Alcoholics Anonymous, is sold by A.A. World Services at https://onlineliterature.aa.org.
Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 5, "How It Works" | 59–60 | 1939 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 2, "There Is a Solution" | 24 | 1939 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 3, "More About Alcoholism" | 30–43 | 1939 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 4, "We Agnostics" | 46–47 | 1939 |
Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). The Preface says the program text "has been left largely untouched" since 1939 (p. xi); our sources have no first edition to compare page numbers against.
Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc.
These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.