A Skeptic's Guide to the 12 Steps

By Phillip Z.

Book Overview

As the coronavirus pandemic pokes holes in all kinds of certainties, the concept of a higher power can be especially hard to swallow. If you're searching for the spiritual heart of the steps, but wonder about the God part, this book is for you.

By encouraging us to understand the spiritual journey of recovery despite our skepticism, Phillip Z. investigates each of the Twelve Steps to help us gain a deeper understanding of a higher power.

How many of us have felt like Phillip Z? He has a staunch belief in the Twelve Steps, yet struggles with the concept of a Higher Power. In A Skeptic's Guide to the 12 Steps, the author investigates each of the Twelve Steps to gain a deeper understanding of a higher power. He examines what may seem like "unsettling" concepts to us including surrendering one's will and life to God, and he encourages us to understand the spiritual journey of recovery despite our skepticism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0894867229
• ISBN13: 9780894867224
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: Hazelden Publishing & Educational Services
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

I finally have a way of accepting th higher power issue

Phillip does an amazing job of addressing the universal theme of addiction through and unconventional addiction (overeating). I absolutely treasure and concur with his assessments of the ways to work the twelve steps accepting the higher power within you. I had really been struggling with this reconciliation. Phillip says it very powerfully. I particularly liked his take in step 10 (one of my most used). Great book I would recommend it to anyone in recovery struggling with the issue of their belief in god or lack thereof. ML

Great resource for the journey of recovery!

Well written and thoughtful, this book serves as a guide for those who struggle with the spirituality behind 12 step programs. Useful for all addictions. Written in chapters that reflect the 12 steps through the eyes of an agnostic who found healing and freedom through OA.

A Viable Alternative for Agnostics

For years I've been struggling with the AA 12 step program and the way it treats Agnositicism. Here at last is a book that offers even-handed help for Agnostics, Atheists, and Religious sufferers, all in the context of Spirituality. Well worth the read for those who believe that the spiritual experience can occur without religion.

Don't worry about God

I couldn't have done it without this book and its discussion of a "higher power" other than the traditional god. It really helps for those of us who think too much.

Essential 12 Step Book

This book is the one essential book I recommend to anyone starting a twelve step program. It helps anyone with doubts walk through the steps in an intelligent yet very personal way. By telling his story, the author illustrates the frustrations many of us have when confronted with the steps and then shows us, through research and much difficult soul-searching, how he was able to understand and apply the steps to his life.