In Step 12, the practice of faith extends to all our affairs, as by the grace of God we seek to live our lives in accordance with the guidance we have received.
[Image: Father Dowling of St. Louis, who met Bill W. at AA’s first clubhouse at 331½ West 24th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan and went on to become one of his unofficial sponsors, together with the Rev. Sam Shoemaker. For Bill's tribute to him, see "To Father Ed — God Speed," in The Language of the Heart, pp. 364–366. For the story of their relationship, see The Soul of Sponsorship: The Friendship of Fr. Ed Dowling, S.J., and Bill Wilson in Letters.]
"In my own case, the foundation stone of freedom from fear is that of faith: a faith that, despite all worldly appearances to the contrary, causes me to believe that I live in a universe that makes sense.” – Bill W. 
"True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every A.A. meeting is an assurance that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to Him.” – 12&12, S2, p. 33
"Faith without works is dead." – James 2:26 and Big Book, p. 88
"Faith without works is dead, but works without faith is not dead. Works without faith builds faith, if this is your goal. All I could do in the beginning was to offer to serve any place I could serve. And I learned, by such simple service, how to stay sober.” – Wynn C., “Freedom from Bondage,” in Big Book, Personal Stories 
"Faith comes and goes. It rises and falls like the tides of an invisible ocean. If it is presumptuous to think that faith will stay with you forever, it is just as presumptuous to think that unbelief will." – Flannery O’Connor 
"Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes." – C. S. Lewis 
"Chuck, your cross was alcoholism; my cross was lack of faith. I went through all my studies and was ordained and didn’t believe a thing. I came to believe by watching what happens to you people in Alcoholics Anonymous.” – Father Dowling (as quoted by Chuck C. in his book A New Pair of Glasses) 
"The sorts of answers sought [by faith] are literally metaphysical, and thus unable to be verified with more empirical methods that so often provide us with clarity and certainty.” – William C. Mattison 
"It is not theological arguments that solve the problems of the questing soul, but the sincere cry of that soul to God for strength and the certainty of that soul that the cry will be heard and answered." – Twenty-Four Hours a Day 
"Yet, Step 2 and AA spirituality is about nothing if it isn’t about faith in God. Many good reasons exist why AA makes a distinction between religion and spirituality, but a denial of God is not one of them." – PTP123 
"This [spiritual] transformation is what frees us from fear. It is the product of a faith that works, a faith that, by the grace of God, practices specific spiritual principles in specific ways." – PTP4 
For more PTP123 passages on faith, see, among others, “Roadblocks to Faith,” pp. 97–132, “Humility Can Lead Us to Faith,” pp.161–183, and “A Faith That Works,” pp.186–188. For PTP4, see pp. 11, 164, 264, 410, 423; and freedom from fear, 170; and reason, 274; and religion, 14, 15, 295, 387; as trust, 170, 404, 405, 406; courage founded in, 172, 407; that works, 15, 73, 168, 358, 428; theological virtue of, 8, 381, 396. For more Big Book and 12&12 passages, click on 164andmore.com and search faith. See also entries in As Bill Sees It.
To return to Practice These, please click on the link.