25 years ago: Good riddance to Norman Vincent Peale

On December 24, 1993, Rev. Norman Vincent Peale died at the age of 95. Rev. Peale was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1922, but changed his affiliation to the Reformed Church in America in 1932, serving as pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New York City from 1932-1984. He hosted the radio program The Art of Living from 1954-1989, and founded Guideposts magazine with his wife Ruth in 1945.

Rev. Peale attempted to combine religion with psychiatry, as he and psychiatrist Smiley Blanton operated a religio-psychiatric clinic, which became the American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry in 1951. Rev. Peale's most popular book, The Power of Positive Thinking, was published in 1952, which led Dr. Blanton to distance himself from Rev. Peale and his views. Rev. Peale's advice was criticized by psychologists, psychiatrists, and theologians as promoting a form of self-hypnosis, while being advocated by prominent businessmen and politicians.

Dr. Peale spoke out on political issues in the 1950s, but he was widely criticized for opposing John F. Kennedy's U.S. presidential candidacy in 1960 on the grounds of Mr. Kennedy's Catholicism; Rev. Peale thereafter withdrew from partisan politics.

Rev. Peale was a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Freemason, and must therefore have taken the Christ-denying oaths that are part of the ceremony for the 33rd degree. Billy Graham, who often sang the praises of false teachers (see, for example, Roberts, Oral), sang the praises of Norman Vincent Peale. Despite whatever criticism he received, Rev. Peale was much honoured by the world; U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed sorrow at his passing, and current President Donald Trump, who attended Marble Collegiate Church with his parents, has positively cited Rev. Peale's influence upon him. Like the Pharisees, Rev. Norman Vincent Peale had his reward.