What is the origin of the Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer?

The following is the definition of A.A. appearing in the Fellowship's basic literature and cited frequently at meetings of A.A. groups:

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

The Serenity Prayer

Please write answer below.

User	Comment
ILJ	posted 15-Jun-2000 3:09pm I think it comes from an episode of The Incredible Hulk but I could be wrong about that.
lara	(reply to ILJ) posted 15-Jun-2000 4:50pm No, I'm pretty sure it was Dukes of Hazzard.
ILJ	(reply to lara) posted 15-Jun-2000 4:59pm That's right, I knew it was something like that.
Oscar	posted 15-Jun-2000 5:01pm catholicism
lion	posted 15-Jun-2000 5:32pm It came from aliens.
mary	posted 15-Jun-2000 5:50pm I don't want to hear it. The prayer makes me feel out of place.
mandy	posted 15-Jun-2000 6:09pm shrugs
Oscar	(reply to mandy) posted 15-Jun-2000 6:25pm Is there something wrong today?
mandy	(reply to Oscar) posted 15-Jun-2000 6:34pm nope...I just didn't know....
romkey	posted 15-Jun-2000 11:32pm monkeys made it!
mandy	(reply to romkey) posted 16-Jun-2000 12:23am They did!!!!!!!! clapping
mandy	(reply to romkey) posted 16-Jun-2000 12:24am BTW...You're a peach! I needed that smile.
Richard	posted 16-Jun-2000 12:31am I don't know.
Jody	posted 16-Jun-2000 7:52am It was attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.--_The A.A. Grapevine,_ January 1950, pp. 6-7; also June Bingham, _Courage to Change,_ p. iii (1961), where the version differs somewhat. Alcoholics Anonymous has used this prayer, with minor changes in wording, since about 1940. The Anglican publishing house, Mobray of London, for more than a century has identified it as a General or Common Prayer of fourteenth-century England, according to a reader of _American Notes and Queries,_ June 1970, p. 154. In _Ausblick von der Weibertreu_ by Christoph Duncker, p. 1 (1973), the lines are attributed to a Johann Christoph Oetinger, deacon in Weinnsberg from 1762 to 1769. Another reader of _American Notes and Queries,_ October 1969, p. 25, gives a nearly identical quotation and states that it can be traced to Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702-1782), German theologian and theosophist, without giving a source. Reference: Platt, Suzy, ed. _Respectfully Quoted: a Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service._ Washington: Library of Congress, 1989. p. 276.
icelamb	(reply to Jody) posted 17-Jun-2000 9:06pm Thanks for the well informed and sincere answer you've given. I've also traced it back to Friedrich Christoph Oetinger.
kirst	posted 29-Jun-2000 9:22am don't care...
mross	posted 27-Jan-2007 10:59am I don't know.
falkensmaze	posted 1-May-2007 1:52pm Don't know.
krazykatlady	posted 28-May-2007 9:53pm I don't really know or care.

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