Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking

I have been writing a report on Norman Vincent Peale- here is an excerpt from it.

Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking

~Report by Madison Nef~

About the author

Norman Vincent Peale is a minister and author. He graduated high school and earned degrees in the Boston University School of Theology and the Ohio Wesleyan School. He became the pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church and quickly became New York’s most famed pastor when the church’s crowd turned from 600 into 5000 people.

Peale published his first and most notable book, “The Power of Positive Thinking”, in 1952 and got a great deal of criticism from many people. The main reason for the criticisms was a few reasons. Because Peale was a Methodist, many people believed the “techniques” he used was just a form of hypnosis to switch their religion. The book also got criticism because many sources referred to in the book and many of the people are anonymous. 

Another criticism thrown against the book was that Peale did not allow his followers to see the bad side of things- only the good. To him there is no suffering, nothing wrong. I do not agree with this at all, because to be able to help people you have to have a sense of their pain yourself. Otherwise you are thoughtlessly blabbering untruths. And if you were trying to help someone, wouldn’t you want to block out negatives too, rather than focus on them?

Peale himself got a lot of criticism as he caused a lot of trouble with politicians. When JFK was elected, Peale criticized him because he was Catholic, saying that naturally he would help the Catholic Church rather than run the country properly. However, upon his passing, Bill Clinton spoke good words about him, saying he was an optimist who believed any problem could be fixed by the power of God.

He also got caught up in a fight with politician Adlai Stevenson… Stevenson was a presidential candidate and was told by a news reporter that Peale had been calling him “unfit for presidency” because he was divorced. When Stevenson stepped up to the podium to make one of his speeches, he said: “Speaking as a Christian, I find the Apostle Paul appealing and Peale appalling.” Many times he replied with this quote when asked about Peale.

However, Peale was very close to the Nixon family, and officiated the Nixon/Eisenhower wedding. During the Watergate crisis he continuously called the White House. In 1984, Ronald Reagan awarded him the highest civilian honor in the United States- the presidential medal of freedom- to thank him for his contributions to theology.

“The problem with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism” – Norman Vincent Peale

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

Maddie