A Hunger for Healing: The Twelve Steps as a Classic Model for Christian Spiritual Growth

"Having worked and read many 12-Step books, Keith Miller offers an easy to read and much needed Christian perspective to many
in the church today. I intend to recommend it to all my family and friends who want to grow in their faith journey.

Carolyn P"
~ Written on 2007-12-30

"TIME magazine, Monday, Sep. 07, 1936


"God-Controlled Dictatorship"
When the followers of Dr. Frank Nathan Daniel Buchman wish to emphasize the fact that the Oxford Groups include all sorts of people, they often speak of their "former Communist" colleague, Scotsman James Watt. The Oxford Groups lay no claim to having a "former Fascist" in their midst, and German Buchmanite baronesses hedge when asked how the movement works in the case of German Jews. Last week, to a stray interviewer from the New York World-Telegram, brisk Dr. Buchman readily declared himself on Fascism, now No. 1 bugaboo to practically all U. S. churchmen.

"I thank heaven," exclaimed Grouper Buchman, "for a man like Adolf Hitler, who built a front-line of defense against the anti-Christ of Communism. My barber in London told me Hitler saved all Europe from Communism. That's how he felt. Of course, I don't condone everything the Nazis do. Anti-Semitism? Bad, naturally. I suppose Hitler sees a Karl Marx in every Jew.

"But think what it would mean to the world if Hitler surrendered to God. Or Mussolini. Or any dictator. Through such a man God could control a nation overnight and solve every last, bewildering problem. . . . Spain has taught us what godless Communism will bring. Human problems aren't economic. They're moral, and they can't be solved by immoral measures. They could be solved within a God-controlled democracy, or perhaps I should say a theocracy, and they could be solved through a God-controlled Fascist dictatorship."

First religious journal to plumb the implications of Dr. Buchman's plea was Zion's Herald, influential New England Methodist weekly which editorialized: "Just what would happen if Adolf Hitler, shorn of all his pagan power, were suddenly to become a St. Francis of Assisi? Would not such a conversion immediately mark the end of all bluster, swashbuckling, regimentation, coercion, intolerance, and persecution? Dictatorship would instantly fade away at the touch of Christ, whose whole method was teaching and persuasion.

"God-controlled Fascism! The terms are mutually exclusive. As well talk of a God-controlled hell! When God controls, Fascism is thereby ruled out."
TIME magazine, Monday, Sep. 07, 1936



Note that both of the cofounders of Alcoholics Anonymous, William Griffith Wilson, and Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith, were enthusiastic members of the Oxford Group at this time. Neither of them quit the Oxford Group in protest when Frank Buchman thanked Heaven for giving us Adolf Hitler, and neither of them had a problem with Frank Buchman's raving about the joys of a world controlled by "Christian Fascist dictators" -- a "dictatorship of the living spirit". And neither of them objected to Frank Buchman's praise of the Nazis.
In fact, Bill Wilson even praised dictatorships himself, and later bragged that Alcoholics Anonymous had "all of the advantages of the modern dictatorship".

Bill Wilson would remain in the Oxford Group for another year before he was kicked out for refusing to follow orders to stop recruiting alcoholics. Dr. Robert Smith would remain in the Oxford Group for another three years before starting an independent unnamed Oxford Group meeting for alcoholics -- still the same religion, just minus the leader Frank Buchman, and finally, minus the name "Oxford Group".

from: Orange Papers verbatim"
~ Written on 2007-07-09

"In doing my own recovery work, this book has been an invaluable resource that has allowed me to inventory and begin to deal with my past. J. Keith Miller has great perspectives and anecdotes that you can relate to. I would recommend this book to anyone, even those who feel that they are spiritually and emotionally healthy. I can bet this book would allow anyone to find things about their past that they still need to heal and resolve. For those that feel as though they are at the bottom, this book is definitely for you. This is likely going to be a book that I am taking my time with going through the first time and will re-read again and again."
~ Written on 2007-01-10

"First step - Get Real! It's time for the church not to be afraid to admit they're dysfunctional. read this book. Also get "A More Excellent Way" by Pastor Henry Wright. Let's get the church and the body healed!"
~ Written on 2004-05-25

"I read this book after I had worked through the steps, but I wish I had read it before. Miller does a great job breaking down each step and applying it to his own life. If you thought the steps were just for alcoholics, think again. This book will open your mind to behaviors that keep you stuck in the insanities of life. If your new to the steps or if you have lived them most of your life this book hits the spot."
~ Written on 2002-02-11