Listen, if you will, to these three statements. First, Alcoholics Anonymous 
	does not demand that you believe anything. All of its Twelve Steps are but
	suggestions. Second, to get sober and to stay sober, you don’t have 	
	to swallow all of Step Two right now. Looking back, I find that I took
	it piecemeal myself. Third, all you really need is a truly open mind. 
	Just resign from the debating society and quit bothering yourself with such deep 		
	questions as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first. Again I say, 
	all you need is the open mind. (Page 26)  	

The first statement echoes the sentiment on Page 164 of the Big Book that "this book is meant to be suggestive only." The second reflects the previous statements (Big Book, Pages 12 and 46) that being willing to believe is a good beginning, The third emphasizes the quality of open-mindedness that is prevalent in the Agnostics chapter and presages the idea later in Step Eleven (Page 100) that debate has no place in meditation. The would-be sponsor describes his own journey from emphasizing the intellect, then seeing that A.A. worked for others, stopped fighting and opened his mind, then gradually came to believe.

He then offers what seems a novel idea to the dubious newcomer: "You can, if you wish, make A.A. itself your ‘higher power.’ Here’s a very large group of people who have solved their alcohol problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you, who have not even come close to a solution. Surely you can have faith in them. Even this minimum of faith will be enough." (Page 27) Though this is a new idea, and eases the newcomer's way along the path of recovery, it is perhaps not quite the radical departure it may seem. The Big Book has at least two references to other people helping establish faith for newcomers (Page 25 and 53). Indeed, the sponsor tells the newcomer that many A.A members crossed over into faith this way: "Relieved of the alcohol obsession, their lives unaccountably transformed, they came to believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of God.” (Page 28)

The author then switches to a neutral voice to describe a few different scenarios of faith denied, lost or mistaken, and the paths these people followed into belief. First to be considered is the person who once had faith, but lost it. Having tried faith and no faith and finding both unsatisfactory, "[h]e thinks himself lost to the comfort of any conviction at all. He cannot attain in even a small degree the assurance of the believer, the agnostic, or the atheist. He is the bewildered one." (Page 29) A.A.'s might say to this person that like, him, that many of us lost interest in religion because we weren't interested in dogma and doctrine, though we liked having "certain values" gained from such an upbringing. "But then alcohol began to have its way with us. Finally, when all our score cards read ‘zero,’ and we saw that one more strike would put us out of the game forever, we had to look for our lost faith. It was in A .A. that we rediscovered it. And so can you.” (Page 29) Recall the statement at the end of Step One that after learning the fatal nature of our situation, "we become as open-minded to conviction and as willing to listen as the dying can be." (Page 24) This is an example of what is sometimes called in the rooms 'the gift of desperation". A few more similar examples follow in this chapter.

Many current members traveled the path of intellectual self-sufficiency. Being proud of our intelligence, "[t]he god of intellect displaced the God of our fathers. But again John Barleycorn had other ideas. We who had won so handsomely in a walk turned into all-time losers. We saw that we had to reconsider or die." (Page 29-30) Once again, desperation proves to be a strong persuader. A.A. members helped these people "get down to our right size". "By their example they showed us that humility and intellect could be compatible, provided we placed humility first. When we began to do that, we received the gift of faith, a faith which works. This faith is for you, too.” (Page 30)

Another group of A.A.'s was anti-religion and anti-God from observing the shortcomings of many believers - a topic dealt with in the Big Book (Pages 49-50). This is said to be an ego-feeding proposition, a form of self-righteousness. "This phony form of respectability was our undoing, so far as faith was concerned. But finally, driven to A.A., we learned better." (Page 30) For the third time, desperation performs a useful task for the newcomer.

“As psychiatrists have often observed, defiance is the outstanding characteristic of many an alcoholic. So it’s not strange that lots of us have had our day at defying God Himself." This can be seen as another example of self-will. Believing our wishes to have been ignored or rejected by God, our defiance was enhanced. "In A.A. we saw the fruits of this belief: men and women spared from alcohol’s final catastrophe. We saw them calmly accept impossible situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever price in humility we must pay, we would pay.” (Page 31) In other words, we have seen the dilemma imposed on us by our situation, and have chosen the spiritual path over the path of defeat.

Finally, some others do believe in a Higher Power, but have weak faith, are superficial or are wallowing in emotionalism. Someone like this continually tries, but fails to quit drinking. Some of us did not pray rightly or engage in any self-examination or give of ourselves. "The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity." (Page 32) This is the first use of 'sanity' in the chapter, though it is a main topic of Step Two. Here it clearly refers to the alcoholic obsession. Few practicing alcoholics will see that they are mentally ill and lacking soundness of mind, a definition of insanity. But, the author concludes, "True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every A.A. meeting is an assurance that God will restore our sanity if we relate ourselves rightly to Him" (Page 33)