Is "God doesn't make junk" in the Big Book?
In short:
- No. The saying isn't in the Big Book or anywhere else in our sources.
- The program text doesn't take up self-worth in those terms. A few passages touch the subject: we are "the children of a living Creator" (p. 28), and "As God's people we stand on our feet; we don't crawl before anyone." (p. 83).
- The same text is just as plain about what's wrong with us. Bill: "of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost" (p. 13), and the root of our troubles is "Selfishness—self-centeredness!" (p. 62). The book holds both, and the saying keeps only one.
What the search found
All our sources were searched for "junk," "doesn't make junk," "worthless," "uselessness" and related words, with page breaks joined. The saying isn't there. "Junk" appears only in its ordinary sense, in a story and the history books (stolen junk on a floor, p. 507; a "junker" of a car, p. 510).
Passages that speak to a person's worth
- Children of God. "all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator" (p. 28). In Step Three's picture, "He is the Father, and we are His children." (p. 62).
- Standing up. Making amends, we are to be humble "without being servile or scraping" (p. 83). "As God's people we stand on our feet; we don't crawl before anyone." (p. 83).
- Uselessness lifted. "No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others." (p. 84). "That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear." (p. 84). The family's painful past, "in God's hands," becomes "the greatest possession you have" (p. 124).
- What God made is good. On sex: "our sex powers were God-given and therefore good" (p. 69).
Passages that speak to what is wrong with us
- Bill, in the hospital: "I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost." (p. 13).
- "Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles." (p. 62). "Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness." (p. 62).
- In inventory, "When we saw our faults we listed them. We placed them before us in black and white." (p. 67).
What this means
The Big Book doesn't say anyone is junk, and it doesn't say the opposite in so many words. It calls people God's children who need not crawl before anyone, and also asks them to face their selfishness and defects honestly. Read alone, either set of passages would give a lopsided picture.
Read it yourself
- Chapter 2, "There Is a Solution" (p. 28): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt2.pdf
- Chapter 5, "How It Works" (pp. 62–69): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt5.pdf
- Chapter 6, "Into Action" (pp. 83–84): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt6.pdf
- Chapter 1, "Bill's Story" (p. 13): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt1.pdf
Sources
| Source | Pages | Date |
|---|---|---|
| All our sources (searched) | — | various |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 | 13, 28, 62–69, 83–84, 124 | 1939 |
| "Gutter Bravado," Part III (ordinary use of "junk") | 507, 510 | fourth edition (2001) |
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.