Appendices

               Roman Numerals             Chapters 1-11             Appendices             Personal Stories: 4th Edition             Personal Stories: ES&H

               Roman Numerals                   Chapters 1–11                      Appendices                     Personal Stories:                 Personal Stories:
                                                                                                                                                            4th Edition                            ES&H 

Scroll down to each appendix. To go to another Q&A section, please click on its name or book. 

Appendix II: Spiritual Experience

P567

  1. Title: When was this appendix added to the Big Book.” – With the second printing of the first edition.
  2. Why was it added? –Because, as the second paragraph explains, the first printing gave many readers the impression that a spiritual experience or awakening had to be in the nature of a sudden and spectacular upheaval.
  3. To help clarify this issue, a major change was made to the second printing. What was this change? A “spiritual experience” was changed to a “spiritual awakening” in Step 12. 
  4. What is the difference? – As the text explains, a spiritual “experience” connotes a sudden radical transformation, while a spiritual  “awakening” is more gradual. While the former is typically a theophany (an experience of God’s presence) of the thunder and lightning variety, the latter can take many different and less dramatic forms. A spiritual experience may come in the midst of great suffering and involve a deep bottom, while an awakening may ensue progressively as we practice the spiritual principles in the Steps. 
  5. Is there a history behind this language change? -Yes: Bill W. got sober after he had a spiritual experience of the spectacular kind. Convinced that this was the way to recovery, he spent the first six months of his sobriety sharing his experience with alcoholics. However, they did not identify with him and he was not able to help sober up a single alcoholic. They just couldn’t see themselves having that kind of experience. The language change in Step 12 was a belated recognition of this fact.
  6. Where did Bill W. have his spiritual experience? - At Towns Hospital in Manhattan.
  7. Is this experience recounted in the Big Book" - No.
  8. Why was it left out? - See Chapter I: Bill's Story, in Big Book Q&A.
  9. Where can we read the story of his spiritual experience? - In Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of AA, pp. 59-64
  10. A well-known alcoholic strongly opposed the change to Step 12. Who was this? – Father Ed Dowling. Who was he? – A priest who became Bill W’s spiritual advisor.
  11. L21: ". . . the psychologist William James. . . " James wrote a book that helped Bill W. understand his experience at Towns Hospital. What was the title of this book? - Varieties of Religious Experience.
  12. Who gave this book to Bill W.? - Ebby T., his  Vermont buddy who became his first sponsor.
  13. Is this book mentioned in the Big Book? - Yes. Where? - In "There Is a Solution," p.28.
  14. P 568, L18-19: The “contempt prior to investigation” quote at the end of “Appendix II, Spiritual Experience,” is attributed to Herbert Spencer. Who else is this passage often attributed to? – William Paley, 18th century British theologian.
  15. Cross-Reference: Appendix 5: The Religious View on AA, Chapter I: Bill's Story.

Appendix III: The Medical View on AA

P569

  1. L1-49: Appendix III, “The Medical View on AA,” includes excerpts from five men of medicine. One of them was very close to AA, serving as Bill W.’s psychiatrist and member of the AA Board of Trustees. Who was this man? – Harry Tiebout. 

Appendix V: The Religious View on A.A.

P572

  1. L3: “Edward Dowling, S.J., of the Queen’s Work Staff . . .” Father Ed met Bill W. at AA’s first clubhouse at 331 ½ West 24th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC and went on to develop a very close relationship with him. What was this relationship? – He became Bill’s sponsor. 
  2. With what other member of the clergy did Bill have a similar relationship? – With Sam Shoemaker, Oxford Group leader and pastor of Calvary Episcopal Church in the Gramercy section of Manhattan.
  3. What do the initials “S. J.” stand for? – Society of Jesus, meaning Father Ed was a Jesuit priest. 
  4. A fellow Jesuit later wrote a book based on the correspondence between Father Ed and Bill. What is the name of this book? – The Soul of Sponsorship, by Robert Fitzgerald, S.J.