My Recovery

My sponser loaned me her Recovery Bible. I went online and brought my own. It has been by my side on my journey, Today, words have a new meaning from my Bible..

The plus and minus of recovery Bibles

There are three major "recovery" or "12 Step" Bibles that have been in circulation for more than a decade. Each has its plus features and a general minus figure. Nobody can quarrel with the purchase of a Bible. Nor can those of us who are Christians discourage alcoholics and addicts from looking first to the Bible. If I were to select the two best of the three, I would point to this Bible and the Life Recovery Bible. I am acquainted with the editors of each. There is an immense amount of resource work in pulling together the Biblical segments, but the problems is that early AAs did not study all the Bible, nor were the 12 Steps taken directly from the Bible. Hence, pointing to this or that book in the Bible and then making comment about it and the Steps is simply private interpretation but not anything that has to do with the original recovery movement. My point is that Dr. Bob said that A.A.'s basic ideas came from the study of the Bible, but people have left it at that and not gone on to delineate what was studied. And the basic answer is that the Book of James, the Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 were the major focus. See my title The James Club and The Original Program's Absolute Essentials. Hence when I am looking at a Recovery Bible, I look first at its treatment of the Book of James, the Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. If it lacks a line by line study of these critical three segments, then it's not genuinely related to the original fellowship. When it comes to the Twelve Steps, they came largely from the language and teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York. Shoemaker was known as a "Bible Christian" and certainly taught on the basic ideas from the Bible that gave rise to Step ideas. Thus James 5:16 was his and A.A.'s source for Step 5. The Sermon contributed to the 8th and 9th Steps, and Sam taught on their sources. I don't find this in the Recovery Bibles. So it boils down to this. If you want to see what Shoemaker took from the Bible and inspired into the Steps, read my book Twelve Steps for You. If you simply want the product of a lot of careful research on the Bible and thinking about recovery by the editors, take a look at the Recovery Bibles and use them. Their histories are generally poor. Their commentaries are helpful. Their focus is far too broad. And they all seem to lack an understanding of the simple ideas from the Bible that came from James, the Sermon, and 1 Corinthians 13. Enjoy. Richard G. Burns, J.D. http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml

Recovery, God and God's Word

Recovery from substances and/or processes is well guided by using this Recovery Bible. The Recovery Bible offers meditations and relatedness from Scripture to recovery issues, questions and spiritual needs with daily thoughts and suggestions for further reading. Empowering a person in recovery strengthens everything in their life, which now must be centered on recovery. This Bible presents a foundation that is God-centered and principled, and I have witnessed its power both personally and as a Christian, Certified Addiction Professional. It adapts to either individual use or use in a group setting. I stand firm in the highest recommendation of this Recovery Bible. Dr. Lina Liken-Paske, CAP