NOTE: Today, our guest blogger is a former student who has become a colleague since his graduation more than 30 years ago.
“Is AA Biblical? The Rise of Spiritual Relativism in the 12-Step Movement”
Today, nearly every behavioral struggle, from gambling and overeating to compulsive shopping and substance abuse, has been reclassified as a “disease” and matched with a corresponding 12-step program. The prototype for all of these is Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), established in the 1930s. Alcoholics Anonymous, in my experience, is often perceived as morally sound, spiritually helpful, and even Christian-friendly. After all, doesn’t it talk about God and spirituality?
However, a closer look reveals troubling theological roots that should concern any Bible-believing Christian.
A Common Misconception: Were the Founders Christians?
An alcoholic smiling with a mug of beer.
Many assume Alcoholics Anonymous’s founders, Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, were Christians who founded the program on biblical principles; that’s a misunderstanding. While both men were religious, neither professed saving faith in Jesus Christ nor promoted Christian doctrine. I discovered both were heavily influenced by Emmet Fox, a leader in the Divine Science movement, part of the broader New Thought/New Age belief system. 1.
Divine Science teaches that God is not a personal being, but a spiritual force that permeates everything. This is pantheism, the belief that God is identical to the universe. Sin is not rebellion against a holy God, but simply wrong thinking. According to Fox and Divine Science, humanity is already divine; we just need to become aware of it.
Key Errors in Fox’s Theology:
- God is impersonal and omnipresent in all things (pantheism)
- Sin is not moral rebellion but incorrect thinking
- Jesus did not come to die for sin but to enlighten minds
- There is no real heaven or hell, only mental states
- All religions contain truth, and salvation is about self-realization
These teachings are clearly opposed to Scripture, which clearly presents sin as lawlessness (1 John 3:4), Jesus as the divine Savior (John 1:1, 14), and salvation as found in Him alone (John 14:6).
A.A.’s Early Literature: Emmet Fox’s Influence
Before the publication of Alcoholics Anonymous (1939), A.A. promoted Fox’s book The Sermon on the Mount. In it, Fox wrote:
“The plain fact is that Jesus taught no theology… All the doctrines and theologies of the churches are human inventions… There is absolutely no system of theology or doctrine to be found in the Bible.” 2.
Fox rejected the doctrine of original sin, Christ’s atoning death, and the biblical gospel. According to him, Jesus didn’t come to redeem sinners but to remind people of their innate divinity. He even called the story of Adam and Eve a mere parable and promoted reincarnation as essential for spiritual growth. 3.
Obviously, this is not Christianity; it is spiritual deception masked as enlightenment.
Carl Jung, William James, and A.A.’s Psychological Foundations
Another pillar in the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous was Carl Jung, the psychologist known for integrating mysticism and occultism into his psychoanalytic theories. Jung told a patient suffering from alcoholism that only a religious experience could cure him. That idea reached Bill Wilson, who claimed he found sobriety through such an experience after reading William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience, a book analyzing mystical experiences from various faiths.
Wilson would later write to Jung with great appreciation, thanking him, James, Dr. Silkworth, and Oxford Group leader Sam Shoemaker for influencing the formation of A.A. Pass It On, Bill Wilson’s authorized biography. I read detailed accounts of séances he and Dr. Bob attended. According to Wilson, they used Ouija boards and claimed to receive messages from deceased friends, spiritual beings, and even historical figures like Aristotle. 4.
This isn’t spiritual experimentation, it’s spiritual rebellion. God’s Word speaks clearly:
“Do not turn to mediums or spiritists… I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:31).
“There shall not be found among you anyone… who practices witchcraft… a medium or spiritist, or one who calls up the dead…” (Deut. 18:10–12).
These aren’t gray areas. A.A.’s spiritual foundation mixed with dangerous, forbidden practices, things God calls “detestable.”
Alcoholics Anonymous’s God: “As You Understand Him”
Perhaps the most misleading feature of A.A. is its intentionally vague view of God. For example, Step Three of the Twelve Steps reads:
“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” 5.
That phrase is key. A.A. invites people to invent their own god. One A.A. publication said your higher power could be a “doorknob, a tree, or the A.A. group itself.”6. This is nothing short of polytheism, the belief in and worship of many gods.
A.A. promotes confession, repentance, prayer, and spiritual awakening, but to whatever god you choose. That’s not biblical spirituality; it’s spiritual relativism.
Can True Christians Endorse Alcoholics Anonymous?
Many believers assume Alcoholics Anonymous is compatible with Christianity because it uses religious language. But we must ask: Compatible with what gospel? Certainly not the one Paul preached:
“For I delivered to you as of first importance… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…” (1 Cor. 15:3).
A.A. does not proclaim this gospel. It offers a path to sobriety through self-invented spirituality, not through repentance and faith in Christ. Step Twelve even says:
“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps…”
But awakening to what? Not to Christ. Not to God’s holiness. Not to man’s sin. Not to the cross. A person can follow all twelve steps, have a “spiritual experience,” and never encounter the gospel or the Savior.
Biblical Contrasts: Paul in Athens
In Acts 17, Paul visits Athens, where the people worshiped many gods. They even had an altar “to the unknown god.” Paul did not affirm their sincerity. He told them:
“What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you…” (Acts 17:23)
He then preached the one true God who created all things and raised Jesus from the dead. That message directly contradicts A.A.’s pluralistic theology.
Paul’s question in 2 Corinthians 6:15 still rings true:
“What harmony has Christ with Belial?”
There is no harmony between Christ and the false gods of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Is There a Better Way?
Yes—there is. God has provided the true remedy for addiction, sin, and brokenness. I will tell you, it is not found in 12 steps, a vague higher power, or mystical experiences. It is found in Jesus Christ alone.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The solution to addiction is not behavioral management. It is a heart transformation. Sin is not a disease. I
t’s rebellion against God. Only the gospel can free a person from its grip.
Final Thoughts: Be Discerning
Should Christians attend or endorse A.A.? That’s a serious question. While we must have compassion for those struggling with addiction, we must not offer them a false spiritual solution. Alcoholics Anonymous has helped many people stop drinking however, it will drive them further from the truth that salvation is in Jesus Christ. It cannot reconcile them to God.
Instead of adapting to Alcoholics Anonymous, churches should offer biblical counseling/discipleship that deals with addiction as a spiritual problem with a spiritual solution. Salvation and sanctification come through Christ.
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:36
FOOTNOTES
1 A philosophical movement developed in the United States in the 19th century, based upon the unpublished writings of Phineas Quimby. Christian Science, founded by Mary Baker Eddy, is one of many offshoots of this movement. The main idea held by those in the New Thought movement is that thoughts or beliefs, i.e., thinking, can create reality. Happiness and health are a direct result of a person’s thoughts. People can change their beliefs and thus their state in life.
2. Emmet Fox, The Sermon on the Mount (New York, NY., HarperOne, 1989), p.3
3. Ibid, p.4
4. Mel B., Pass It On: The Story of Bill Wilson and How the A.A. Message Reached the World, p.278.
5. Bill Wilson, Alcoholics Anonymous, (New York, NY., Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 2001), pp. 46-47.
6. Dick B., The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living That Works, (Kihei, HI., Paradise Research Publications, 1998), pp. 157-158.
Biblical Counseling Resources on Addiction by Mark Shaw https://www.theaddictionconnection.org/published-resources/
The Bible and Alcoholics Anonymous by Heath Lambert and Mark Shaw https://biblicalcounseling.com/resource-library/podcast-episodes/til-038-the-bible-and-alcoholics-anonymous-feat-mark-shaw/
Written by: David M. Tyler, Ph. D.
David M. Tyler has a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biblical Counseling. He is the Director of Gateway Biblical Counseling and Training Center in Fairview Heights, Illinois, and the Dean of the Biblical Counseling Department for Master’s International University of Divinity in Evansville, Indiana. Dr. Tyler is certified by the International Association of Biblical Counselors and the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. He lectures and leads workshops on Biblical counseling.