Is Alcoholics Anonymous Biblical?

The Rise of Spiritual Relativism in the 12-Step Movement

Is Alcoholics Anonymous biblical? Many Christians ask this question because Alcoholics Anonymous frequently speaks about God and spirituality. However, a closer look reveals that Alcoholics Anonymous is built on unbiblical foundations that promote spiritual relativism rather than the truth of Scripture. As Christians, we must carefully discern whether AA’s message aligns with the gospel of Jesus Christ or points people away from Him.

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 Anonomous, 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?

But a closer look reveals troubling theological roots that should concern any Bible-believing Christian.

A Common Misconception: Were the Founders Christians?

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 did they promote 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 with the universe itself. 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

It is obvious to me these teachings are directly 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), the movement promoted Emmet 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.”

Fox rejected the doctrine of original sin and dismissed the atoning death of Christ. Instead of pointing to redemption through the cross, he claimed Jesus came only to remind people of their innate divinity. According to Fox, even the story of Adam and Eve was just a parable, and he taught reincarnation as a key to spiritual growth.

Obviously, this is not Christianity. What Fox promoted was spiritual deception dressed up 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, the authorized biography of Bill Wilson, 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.”

That phrase is key. Rather than directing people to the God of Scripture, the program invites them to invent their own higher power. One A.A. publication even suggested that a doorknob, a tree, or the group itself could qualify as a “god.” This is nothing short of polytheism, the belief in and worship of many gods.

In practice, A.A. encourages confession, repentance, prayer, and spiritual awakening, but these are directed toward whatever god the participant chooses. That is not biblical spirituality; it is spiritual relativism.

Should Christians Endorse Alcoholics Anonymous?

Many believers assume A.A. is compatible with Christianity simply because it uses religious language. But we must ask: Compatible with what gospel? It is certainly not the one Paul preached.

The program does not proclaim salvation through Christ. Instead, it offers a path to sobriety built on self-invented spirituality rather than repentance and faith in Jesus. Step Twelve even promises a “spiritual awakening” without any reference to the cross.

At its core, A.A. encourages participants to pursue spiritual experiences of their own making. Such teaching may appear moral or helpful, but it is far removed from the gospel of grace.

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. God’s Word provides clear direction and lasting hope for those enslaved to sin. Unlike A.A.’s vague higher power, the Bible reveals the living God who alone can rescue us.

Through Christ’s finished work on the cross, sinners find forgiveness, new life, and the power to change. Scripture does not point us to self-made spirituality but to the Savior who redeems.

As Paul declared in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” That gospel is the better way, and the only way, for true transformation.

Final Thoughts: Be Discerning

Alcoholics Anonymous has helped many people achieve sobriety, but its foundation is not biblical. By presenting a “god as you understand him,” it promotes spiritual relativism and turns people away from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Bible offers something far greater. In Christ, sinners are not only freed from destructive habits but are also made new creations (2 Cor. 5:17). Lasting change is possible, not through twelve steps, but through the power of God’s Word and the work of the Holy Spirit.

For those seeking real hope and lasting transformation, the answer is not in Alcoholics Anonymous but in the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone saves and sanctifies.

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Further Reading

If you are wrestling with how modern psychology often redefines spiritual struggles, you may also find help in my book The Wrong Battlefield. It explains how many modern explanations of behavior shift attention away from the heart and the transforming power of God’s Word.

→ View the book here:

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 have the power to 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/