The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set:
31 Volumes of Forensic Research
on the Christian Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous

The Christian recovery world’s permanent, irreplaceable record of the roles God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in early A.A.’s astonishing success — and the most powerful resource for every Christian recovery worker today.

This is not a general A.A. history. It is the most thorough scholarly record of what Dick B. called “the rest of the story” — the Biblical foundations, the Oxford Group connections, the role of the Scriptures in Akron, and the focus of the program on God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible that produced A.A.’s earliest and most remarkable results.

There is no comparable resource anywhere in the world. The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set is the most comprehensive scholarly collection documenting the roles God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in early Alcoholics Anonymous — assembled across 25 years of forensic historical research into one 31-volume reference set.

The Christian Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous: What the Record Actually Shows

Long before the Twelve Steps were written, the earliest members of Alcoholics Anonymous described their program in plain spiritual terms — reliance on God, study of the Bible, prayer, and the transformation of a person’s life through Jesus Christ. The Christian roots of Alcoholics Anonymous are not a matter of opinion or later reinterpretation; they are documented in the letters, journals, meeting records, and firsthand accounts of the men and women who were there. The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set gathers that primary-source record in one place, so readers can examine the evidence for themselves rather than take anyone’s word for it.

The early Akron program that Dr. Bob Smith and Bill Wilson helped shape drew directly on the Bible — particularly the Book of James, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), and Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, which early members called their “absolutely essential” reading. The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set traces how these texts, together with the influence of A First Century Christian Fellowship, founded in the autumn of 1922 by the Lutheran minister Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman and several associates (and later also known as the Oxford Group, from September 1928), and the Reverend Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., formed the spiritual core from which the recovery movement grew.

What The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set Contains

The 31-volume set covers every major dimension of early A.A. history from a documented Christian and Biblical perspective:

• The Oxford Group and its role in founding A.A.
• Dr. Bob Smith — the Akron Genesis of A.A. and his Biblical background
• Bill Wilson and early New York A.A.
• Henrietta Seiberling and the Akron A.A. program
• Samuel Shoemaker and his influence on early A.A.
• The Good Book (Bible) and the Big Book
• The role of Jesus Christ and Christian prayer in early A.A.
• The history of cures in early A.A. — and what produced them
• The complete co-founders’ library — every book Bill and Bob read

Who The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set Is For

The Set is the professional library of record for: Christian addiction treatment program directors and curriculum directors; pastors and church-based recovery ministry leaders; prison and military chaplains; seminary faculty and biblical counselors; A.A. and N.A. sponsors and group leaders; and any researcher or historian documenting the Christian roots of A.A.

Why the Christian Origins of A.A. Still Matter for Recovery Today

For the Christian in recovery — and for the pastor, counselor, or historian who serves them — the origins of the program are not merely academic. Knowing where A.A.’s spiritual power came from helps today’s recovery worker draw on the same well: the Bible, prayer, honest self-examination, restitution, and dependence on God. The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set documents how early A.A.’s remarkable results were tied to that explicitly Christian foundation, and it equips readers to carry a message rooted in the same sources rather than a diluted or secularized version of it.

This is why the collection has become a permanent reference for seminaries, treatment programs, recovery ministries, and individual believers who want the historical record kept intact and available to the next generation.

Who Searches for This Resource?

Christian recovery program directors. Chaplains. Pastors building Step-based ministries. Seminary professors. A.A. historians. Anyone who has asked: Was A.A. originally a Christian program? The answer — documented across 31 volumes — is yes. The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set is the proof.

What the 31 Volumes Document

Across its 31 volumes, the Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set assembles more than two decades of Dick B.’s forensic research into the people, places, and texts behind early Alcoholics Anonymous, including:

• The Akron origins of the program, and Dr. Bob Smith’s Christian upbringing and Bible study.
• The role of the Oxford Group and Rev. Sam Shoemaker in shaping A.A.’s spiritual principles.
• The specific Scriptures early members read, memorized, and lived by.
• The prayer, quiet time, and reliance on God that characterized the first groups.
• Key people, often overlooked, who carried the message in A.A.’s founding years.

Each volume stands on its own, and together they form the most complete primary-source library on the Christian roots of Alcoholics Anonymous available anywhere.

Price and Availability

The 31-volume Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set is available exclusively through DickBonRecovery.com or by contacting Ken B. (Kenneth C. Burns) directly. The current price is $297.00 with FREE U.S. shipping — a savings of more than $400 compared to purchasing the volumes individually on Amazon. Print-on-demand fulfillment; ships within 2–5 business days.

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