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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame '''Higher Power''' is a term coined in the 1930s in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and is used in other twelve-step...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Higher-power.jpg|right|frame]]
'''Higher Power''' is a term coined in the 1930s in [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] (AA) and is used in other twelve-step programs. It is also sometimes referred to as a [[power]] greater than ourselves and is frequently abbreviated to HP.
Sources that may have contributed to the [[adoption]] of the term in Alcoholics Anonymous ([[AA]]), the first twelve-step group, include [[spirituality]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought New Thought] and the work of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James William James]. James, who wrote "The only cure for dipsomania is religiomania" in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience ''The Varieties of Religious Experience''], is cited in the 'Spiritual Experience' appendix of Alcoholics Anonymous (also known as the "Big Book").
[[Sociologist]] Darren Sherkat [[researched]] the [[belief]] of Americans in a ''higher power''. He based his research on data from 8,000 adults polled by the Chicago-based National Opinion Research Center between 1988 and 2000. Among his findings were that 8% stated "I don't [[believe]] in a personal god, but I do believe in a higher power of some kind." This is the same figure as found by the 1999 Gallup national poll of Americans. Sherkat also found that 16% of the [[Jewish]] people surveyed [[agreed]] with the [[statement]] about a 'higher power', while 13.2% of [[liberal Protestants]] and 10.6% of [[Episcopalians]] also agreed with it.
An empirically based recovery framework likened [[faith]] in a higher power to [[motivation]] for [[personal growth]] as described by [[Abraham Maslow]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rogers Carl Rogers].
In current [[twelve-step program]] usage a ''higher power'' can be anything at all that the member believes is adequate. Reported examples include their twelve-step group, [[Nature]], [[consciousness]], existential [[freedom]], [[God]], [[science]], [[Buddha]]. It is frequently stipulated that as long as a higher power is "greater" than the [[individual]], then the only condition is that it should also be [[loving]] and [[caring]].
The terms 'higher power' and 'power greater than ourselves' appear in the "Big Book", on three occasions:
*"Came to believe that a [[power]] greater than ourselves could restore us to [[sanity]]."
*"The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental [[defense]] against the first drink. Except in a few cases, neither he nor any other [[human being]] can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power."
*"Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and [[wonderful]] world, no matter what your present circumstances![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_power]
[[Category: Religion]]
[[Category: Psychology]]
'''Higher Power''' is a term coined in the 1930s in [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] (AA) and is used in other twelve-step programs. It is also sometimes referred to as a [[power]] greater than ourselves and is frequently abbreviated to HP.
Sources that may have contributed to the [[adoption]] of the term in Alcoholics Anonymous ([[AA]]), the first twelve-step group, include [[spirituality]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought New Thought] and the work of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James William James]. James, who wrote "The only cure for dipsomania is religiomania" in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience ''The Varieties of Religious Experience''], is cited in the 'Spiritual Experience' appendix of Alcoholics Anonymous (also known as the "Big Book").
[[Sociologist]] Darren Sherkat [[researched]] the [[belief]] of Americans in a ''higher power''. He based his research on data from 8,000 adults polled by the Chicago-based National Opinion Research Center between 1988 and 2000. Among his findings were that 8% stated "I don't [[believe]] in a personal god, but I do believe in a higher power of some kind." This is the same figure as found by the 1999 Gallup national poll of Americans. Sherkat also found that 16% of the [[Jewish]] people surveyed [[agreed]] with the [[statement]] about a 'higher power', while 13.2% of [[liberal Protestants]] and 10.6% of [[Episcopalians]] also agreed with it.
An empirically based recovery framework likened [[faith]] in a higher power to [[motivation]] for [[personal growth]] as described by [[Abraham Maslow]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rogers Carl Rogers].
In current [[twelve-step program]] usage a ''higher power'' can be anything at all that the member believes is adequate. Reported examples include their twelve-step group, [[Nature]], [[consciousness]], existential [[freedom]], [[God]], [[science]], [[Buddha]]. It is frequently stipulated that as long as a higher power is "greater" than the [[individual]], then the only condition is that it should also be [[loving]] and [[caring]].
The terms 'higher power' and 'power greater than ourselves' appear in the "Big Book", on three occasions:
*"Came to believe that a [[power]] greater than ourselves could restore us to [[sanity]]."
*"The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental [[defense]] against the first drink. Except in a few cases, neither he nor any other [[human being]] can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power."
*"Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and [[wonderful]] world, no matter what your present circumstances![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_power]
[[Category: Religion]]
[[Category: Psychology]]