…iple that the alcoholic’s “defense must come from a Higher Power,” as Bill wrote in the “Big Book.” But Wilson and Smith also insisted that twelve-steppers must form their own conception of God “as we understood Him,” as the third step went. “Higher Power” neatly captured the radical ecumenism they were after. (I sometimes tell twelve-steppers today that if that term smacks too heavily of Abrahamic or monotheistic religiosity for their outlook, try substituting Greater Force.)
