What does Appendix V, "The Religious View on A.A.," say?
In short:
- Appendix V is a single page (p. 572). It opens with one sentence, "Clergymen of practically every denomination have given A.A. their blessing." (p. 572), and then quotes three outside voices: a Jesuit priest, an Episcopal magazine and a New York minister.
- Father Edward Dowling, S.J., says "Alcoholics Anonymous is natural" (p. 572). He sees something spiritual in it, as in an art museum or a symphony, and says Catholic participation "almost invariably results in poor Catholics becoming better Catholics." (p. 572).
- The Living Church calls the basis of A.A.'s technique "the truly Christian principle that a man cannot help himself except by helping others." (p. 572). Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, speaking at the Rockefeller dinner, says there are "doors of opportunity ahead of this project that may surpass our capacities to imagine." (p. 572).
- These are friendly outsiders' views, collected after 1939. The appendix doesn't make A.A. a religion or say any of them speaks for A.A. The 1939 foreword says A.A. is "not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination" (p. xiv).
The page, in order
The opening line. "Clergymen of practically every denomination have given A.A. their blessing." (p. 572). That's the appendix's only statement in A.A.'s own voice. After it come the three quotations, each with a line saying who is speaking, and a footnote.
Father Edward Dowling, S.J. He is introduced as "of the Queen's Work staff" (p. 572). His comment has three parts:
- A.A. is "natural; it is natural at the point where nature comes closest to the supernatural, namely in humiliations and in consequent humility." (p. 572).
- There is something spiritual about an art museum or a symphony, and the Catholic Church approves of using them. "There is something spiritual about A.A. too" (p. 572).
- Catholic participation in A.A. "almost invariably results in poor Catholics becoming better Catholics." (p. 572).
His comparison is to spiritual things that aren't churches. He doesn't call A.A. a religion. A footnote says: "Father Ed, an early and wonderful friend of A.A., died in the spring of 1960." (p. 572).
The Living Church, an Episcopal magazine, "editorially." It says the basis of A.A.'s technique is "the truly Christian principle that a man cannot help himself except by helping others." (p. 572). It reports that members describe the plan as "self-insurance," which has restored "physical, mental and spiritual health and self-respect" (p. 572) to people who would otherwise be "hopelessly down and out" (p. 572).
Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, at the Rockefeller dinner. The appendix sets the scene as "a dinner given by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to introduce Alcoholics Anonymous to some of his friends" (p. 572). Fosdick said that "psychologically speaking there is a point of advantage in the approach that is being made in this movement that cannot be duplicated." (p. 572). He added that if it were wisely handled ("and it seems to be in wise and prudent hands"), there were "doors of opportunity ahead of this project that may surpass our capacities to imagine." (p. 572).
What the histories add (1957; 1984)
None of this is in the appendix. It comes from Bill W.'s A.A. Comes of Age (1957) and, more carefully dated, Pass It On (1984).
Father Dowling. Bill remembers Father Ed's "first piece about us in The Queen's Work," the sodality's magazine (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). Father Ed was the first to notice how closely the Twelve Steps paralleled part of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and wrote in effect to alcoholics, especially Catholics: "Folks, A.A. is good. Come and get it." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). Bill tells of his first visit, "One wintry night in 1940" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957), at the old Twenty-Fourth Street clubhouse, and says Father Ed helped start the first A.A. group in St. Louis (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). Pass It On (1984) calls him editor of The Queen's Work (Pass It On, 1984). Neither book says which of his writings the appendix's quotation comes from. See: Who was Father Ed Dowling, and why is he in A.A.'s story?
Dr. Fosdick and the dinner. Bill calls Fosdick "the very first clergyman to recognize us" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). In 1939 Fosdick reviewed the Big Book, and A.A. Comes of Age reprints the review (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). The dinner was held on February 8, 1940, at the Union Club in New York (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957), with Fosdick there "representing religion" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). One detail differs from the appendix's wording. Bill writes that Mr. Rockefeller himself had fallen ill and couldn't come, and that his son Nelson chaired the evening (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). The dinner was still his, as the appendix says, but he wasn't in the room. See: Why did early A.A. turn down Rockefeller money?
The Living Church. Our sources have nothing more about this editorial and doesn't give its date.
Reading it in its place
Appendix V sits with Appendices III and IV, which collect what doctors and a public health association said about A.A. (pp. 569–571). All three are testimonials from outside. It is not part of the 1939 text. The Preface says the appendices came in with the second edition in 1955 (p. xi), and the footnote about Father Ed's death shows the page was revised again after 1960 (p. 572).
The 1939 text says where A.A. itself stands. "We are not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination, nor do we oppose anyone." (p. xiv). The book asks members to drop prejudice "even against organized religion" (p. 49), and, in the morning-prayer passage of Chapter 6, advises: "Be quick to see where religious people are right." (p. 87). The Long Form of Tradition Ten (1946) keeps A.A. from expressing any opinion on "sectarian religion" (p. 565). So Appendix V shows clergy of several churches approving of A.A. It doesn't show A.A. approving of, or joining, any church. See: Is A.A. a religious organization?
Read it yourself
- Appendix V, "The Religious View on A.A." (p. 572), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicev.pdf
- Foreword to the First Edition (pp. xiii–xiv): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_forewordfirstedition.pdf
- Chapter 4, "We Agnostics": https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt4.pdf
- A.A. Comes of Age, Pass It On and the full Big Book are sold by A.A. World Services: https://onlineliterature.aa.org
- Related: What is in the Big Book's appendices, and when was each added?
Sources
| Source | Pages | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix V, "The Religious View on A.A." | 572 | in the book since 1955 (p. xi); footnote after 1960 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendices III–IV; Preface | 569–571; xi | 1955 edition onward; Preface 2001 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Foreword to the First Edition; Chapters 4 and 6 | xiv; 49; 87 | 1939 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix I, Long Form Ten | 565 | 1946 |
| A.A. Comes of Age (Bill W.) | — | 1957 |
| Pass It On | — | 1984 |
Comes of Age and Pass It On are cited by the file-page markers in our copies (f.), not printed pages.
Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book, A.A. Comes of Age and Pass It On are © 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.