The Power of Positive Thinking was the title of a what is said to be the greatest inspirational bookseller of our times. It first came out in 1952 and has sold over 20 million copies and been translated into 41 languages. Norman Vincent Peale demonstrated this concept by what he wrote and how he lived. This philosophy of faith doesn’t ignore life’s problems, but rather explains a practical approach to living life in a more fuller way day by day. It espoused believing in yourself and followed that up with an affirmation straight from Philippians 4:13 in the Bible, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
Norman Vincent Peale said, “I found the solution in simple techniques of faith taught in the Bible. These principles are scientific and can heal any personality of inferiority feelings…which is another term for self-doubt…” And the underlying assumption of his teaching was that nearly all basic problems were personal.
Even though he was extemely popular, Norman Vincent Peale had his critics, who claimed that his message was dangerous and he was a con mand and a fraud. They went on to say his books were full of anecdotes and were hard to substantiate, that many experts and testimonies he cited were unnamed or unverifiable. Another criticism given was that his “techniques” or “formulas” were actually self-hypnosis and that that self-hypnosis doesn’t work and may even be dangerous. The critics went on to say that these auto-suggestions repeated over and over interfere with true thinking and may even destroy self-knowledge and religious growth in the process…that this black and white view of life is distorted and unrealistic and is similar to the view of borderline personality disorder patients. They go on to say that in the long run these views will only lead to disillusionment and failure and will boomerang back upon them so that they will prejudice them against effective therapy.
That was said over 40 years ago. More recently, Psychologist Martin Seligman, the originator of “positive psychology,” and one of the world’s leading experts on the scientific study of happiness, says “positive thinking” is unproven and dangerous, and he cautions readers not to confuse “positive thinking” with positive psychology. Speaking specifically about Peale, Seligman wrote “First, positive thinking is an armchair activity. Positive psychology, on the other hand, is tied to a program of empirical and replicable scientific activity…. Where accuracy is tied to potentially catastrophic outcomes (for example, when an airline pilot is deciding whether to de-ice the wings of her airplane) we should all be pessimists…. Positive psychology is a supplement to negative psychology, not a substitute.” (Authentic Happiness, Free Press, 2002, pp. 288-299)
This are the same type of cricisms leveled today about The Secret and its teachers.
From the February 13, 2007 column of The Los Angeles Times article talking about The Secret by Karin Klein states, ”Near as I can tell, the whole idea is just a new spin on the very old (and decidedly not secret) “The Power of Positive Thinking” wedded to “ask and you shall receive.” So it’s not surprising that its author, Australian TV producer Rhonda Byrne, is best known for a show called “The World’s Greatest Commercials.” Warming over others’ old work appears to be her area of expertise. She took the well-worn ideas of some self-help gurus, customized them for the profoundly lazy, gave them a veneer of mysticism — and she tapped right into that wealth frequency. What a pro.”
Is it bane or boon? What do you think?
One of Peale’s supporters is the Rev. Billy Graham who said at the National Council of Churches on June 12, 1966 “I don’t know of anyone who had done more for the kingdom of God than Norman and Ruth Peale or have meant anymore in my life for the encouragement they have given me. (Hayes Minnick, BFT Report #565 p. 28).
There was actually a movie, One Man’s Way that came out in 1963 about the life of Norman Vincent Peale. And in 1984 President Ronald Reagan awarded Norman Vincent Peale the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The choice is yours.
