There is no shortage of theories as to who wrote the Serenity Prayer. Records
from Alcoholics Anonymous show that Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr, of the Union
Theological Seminary, NYC, composed it in 1932 as the ending to a longer
prayer. In 1934, Dr. Howard Robbins, the doctor’s friend & neighbor,
requested permission to use that portion of the longer prayer in a compilation
he was building at the time. It was published that year in Dr. Robbins’ book
of prayers.
In 1939, it came to the attention of an early A.A. member who liked it so
much, he brought it to Bill W., the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bill
& the staff read the prayer & felt that it particularly suited the
needs of AA. Cards were printed & passed around. Thus the simple little
prayer became an integral part of the AA movement.
Another popular theory states that Reinhold Niebuhr actually accredited
Friedrich Oetinger, an 18th century theologian, for writing the Serenity
Prayer. This theory suggests that in 1947, Niebuhr read the prayer in an
obituary notice in the New York Tribune & was so taken by it that he
shared it with Bill Wilson.
Page 67 of the out-of-print booklet, "Between Dawn & Dark," by
Frederick Ward Kates — published by the Upper Room in 1957 — reads:
Almighty God, our heavenly father, give us
serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what should
be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other. Amen
Fourteenth Century
