Downloads
The following downloads require adobe reader, available here.
SOUL SURGERY
Originally published in 1919, this book is the result of collaboration between Frank Buchman and Howard Walter, Buchman’s associate and a missionary in India . The subject of Soul Surgery is ‘personal work,’ also called ‘personal evangelism.’ It criticizes mass evangelism as superficial, and contends that real religious change happens only when two people sit down together and are totally honest with one another.
As addicts, we can read Soul Surgery as an essay on Twelfth-Step work. Walter’s suggestions for the personal evangelist all apply to those of us who serve others as sponsors. The religious language here is very strong, but the underlying spirituality is equally strong and fully compatible with the Steps. The basic message of Soul Surgery is this: we grow spiritually only by helping others along the same path.
WHAT IS THE OXFORD GROUP?
While Soul Surgery outlines the Group’s method of personal work, What is the Oxford Group? examines the Group’s full range of practices. In the book’s discussion of the Four Absolutes, we find the precursor of inventory. Likewise, the chapters on surrender, restitution, and Guidance are clearly what AA adopted as the Third Step, amends, and the Eleventh Step, respectively. What is the Oxford Group? serves as an excellent introduction to Oxford Group thought and practice, and could almost serve as a pre-step Step guide for those interested in working with the roots of Twelve Step spirituality.