Norman Vincent Peale - The Power of Faith (Condensed Classics): The Founding Father of Positive Thinking on How to Lead a Healthful Life

THE POWER OF FAITH

Also available in the Condensed Classics Library

A MESSAGE TO GARCIA

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

AS A MAN THINKETH

ATOM-SMASHING POWER OF MIND

HOW TO ATTRACT GOOD LUCK

HOW TO ATTRACT MONEY

MAGIC OF FAITH

POWER & WEALTH

PUBLIC SPEAKING TO WIN!

SELF-RELIANCE

THE ART OF WAR

THE GAME OF LIFE AND HOW TO PLAY IT

THE KYBALION

THE LAW OF SUCCESS

THE MAGIC LADDER TO SUCCESS

THE MAGIC OF BELIEVING

THE MASTER KEY TO RICHES

THE MASTER MIND

THE MILLION DOLLAR SECRET HIDDEN IN YOUR MIND

THE POWER OF AWARENESS

THE POWER OF CONCENTRATION

THE POWER OF FAITH

THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

THE PRINCE

THE PROPHET

THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON

THE SCIENCE OF BEING GREAT

THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH

THE SECRET DOOR TO SUCCESS

THE SECRET OF THE AGES

THINK AND GROW RICH

THINK YOUR WAY TO WEALTH

WALDEN

YOUR FAITH IS YOUR FORTUNE

THE POWER OF FAITH

The Founding Father of Positive Thinking On How to Lead a Healthful Life

Norman Vincent Peale

Abridged and Introduced by Mitch Horowitz

Published by Gildan Media LLC

aka G&D Media.

www.GandDmedia.com

This work was originally published as Faith Is the Answer by Smiley Blanton, M.D. and Norman Vincent Peale, D.D. in 1940

G&D Media Condensed Classics edition published 2020

Abridgement and Introduction copyright 2020 by Mitch Horowitz

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained within. Although every precaution has been taken, the author and publisher assume no liability for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

FIRST PRINT AND EBOOK EDITION: 2020

Cover design by David Rheinhardt of Pyrographx

Interior design by Meghan Day Healey of Story Horse, LLC.

ISBN: 978-1-7225-0081-8

eISBN: 978-1-7225-2160-8

CONTENTS

by Mitch Horowitz

INTRODUCTION

The Foundations of Positive Thinking

By Mitch Horowitz

T his short book is a condensation of Norman Vincent Peales first collaboration with psychiatrist Smiley Blanton, originally titled Faith Is the Answer. Their 1940 effort presents a valuable summary of Peales therapeutic theology and of the themes he explored to worldwide notice twelve years later in his Power of Positive Thinking.

But in The Power of Faith you will discover a different Norman Vincent Peale from the one who later authored one of the worlds most popular books.

The authorial voice of The Power of Faith reveals the younger Peale not only as a trenchant and elegant writer, but also as a figure of considerable literary breadth. In The Power of Faith, Peale effortlessly weaves Scriptural analysis and little-known works of theology with the ethical insights of figures including Marcus Aurelius, William James, Henry Drummond, and Daniel Defoe, as well as the modern voices of his own congregants.

Peale wanted to be understood not only as a theologian of good tidings, but also as a true intellectual, which he was. One of the pains of Peales life was that, despite his worldwide fame and in some ways because of it, he got rundown in lettered circles after the publication of The Power of Positive Thinking. Critics and academics, many of whom I doubt read or more than skimmed Peales books, often depicted the minister a kind of philosopher for simpletons. This was a profoundly unfair judgment, which I explore in my historical treatment of Peale in One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life.

The Power of Faith is less mystical in nature than many of Peales later works. The minister had not yet fully immersed himself in the study of New Thought, Science of Mind, Christian Science, and other variants of the mind metaphysics that characterized The Power of Positive Thinking. Yet the telltale influence of early twentieth-century French mind theorist Emile Cou appears in The Power of Faith. In Peales chapter on self-criticism he notes, imagination is stronger than will. That was one of Cous key insights. Cou noted that our behavioral patterns are dictated by subliminal emotion and self-image much more than by personal determination. Hence, Couwho coined the mantra day by day, in every way, I am getting better and betterconsidered self-reconditioning essential to the pursuit of a happy and purposeful life. Peales resonance with this principle warmed him to concepts he later discovered in New Thought, including the therapeutic uses of visualization, prayer, and affirmation. You will see that Peale also examines the Proverb as a man thinketh, which served as the basis of the spiritual-psychology brought by early New Thought author James Allen in 1903.

Peale and psychiatrist Smiley Blanton originally wrote this book in alternating chapters. My condensation retains only the key points of Peales own chapters. In some cases, Blantons considerable psychological insights have been supplanted by more recent developments in neuroscience, cognitive restructuring, and psychopharmacology. But Peales spiritual observations and Scriptural analyses remain universal, actionable, and revealing of his earliest attitudes toward the therapeutic value of faith.

I believe that in this book you will discover Norman Vincent Peale not only as a deeply appealing storyteller and communicator, but also as a man whose vision of religion as a workable, practical philosophy helped transform the spiritual landscape of the past centuryand of our own. His early vision may transform your life, as well.

CHAPTER ONE

The Power of Faith

I f I were to tell you that everything troubling you, every weakness, every unhappiness can be eliminated; if I were to declare that everything about your life can be strong and effective, what would be your reaction? Probably many of you would be skeptical or at least wistful, doubtful that such marvelous results are possible. Some people have never had anything great happen to them, so they doubt that it can happen. They suffer from what a great thinker once referred to as the vast inertia of the soul.

But it is a fact that any persons life can be so completely changed that every crippling thing known and unconscious which interferes with his well-being can be eliminated or effectively controlled. This is no academic assertion but one that can be fully documented from the experiences of many people in whom the most amazing results were obtained. These people learned the technique of faith and so tapped a curative element so potent that no malady of personality could resist its health-giving force. And like many epoch-making processes, it operates simply.

You may develop the art of having faith through two suggestions, if they are faithfully followed: (1) the practice of simple but habitual prayer and devotional meditation; (2) the surrender of your life in childlike trust to the will of God.