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Imitation Leather Verified Purchase. Very handy book to have - this is my third copy the others having worn out. Scripture passages are all KJV and ceremonial orders are all archaically worded but they provide a framework and an experienced minister can take it from there. The leather binding is considerably more durable than the hard binding.

The Starbook was my third book I ordered. I wanted to view the different versions for officiating a wedding. Starbook is very thorough and nicely laid out. Although it was not the one I was led to use, I can see myself using it for other services in the future. I highly recommend it. One person found this helpful. I was given this book in hard copy and found it was available electronically and had to have it for those times I might be asked to perform a service of which I was not familiar.

I bought the Kindle edition so that I could carry it with the rest of my Minister's library, Bibles, Apocryphal books, etc, on my Kindles. But to my surprise, when opening this one for the first time, there are entire pages missing, the Table of Contents is missing, the letters are jumbled, and entire sections are illegible. I want a refund for this defective e-book!

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This book was deliver to my Kindle. There is not a single page that isn't corrupted. Table of contents is missing. I have several great books in my Kindle library, some of them are free. This electronic version should not be offered. See all reviews. What other items do customers buy after viewing this item? The Star Book for Ministers Hardcover. Bonded Leather Edition Bonded Leather. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. A second major accusation of Peale is that he attempted to conceal that his techniques for giving the reader absolute self-confidence and deliverance from suffering are a well known form of hypnosis, and that he attempts to persuade his readers to follow his beliefs through a combination of false evidence and self-hypnosis autosuggestion , disguised by the use of terms which may sound more benign from the reader's point of view "techniques", "formulas", "methods", "prayers", and "prescriptions".

One author called Peale's book "The Bible of American autohypnotism". While his techniques are not debated by psychologists , Peale said his theological practice and strategy was directed more at self-analysis, forgiveness, character development, and growth [17] much like the Jesuits of the Catholic Church. Murphy writes "Self knowledge, in Mr.

Peale's understanding is unequivocally bad: Murphy describes Peale's understanding of the mind as inaccurate, "without depth", and his description of the workings of the mind and the unconscious as deceptively simplistic and false: If the unconscious of man So does the reliance on self-hypnosis, which is the cornerstone of Mr. Ellis has documented in several books the many individuals he has treated who suffered mental breakdowns from following Peale's teachings. Ellis' writings repeatedly warn the public not to follow the Peale message.

Ellis contends the Peale approach is dangerous, distorted, unrealistic. He compares the black or white view of life that Peale teaches to a psychological disorder borderline personality disorder , perhaps implying that dangerous mental habits which he sees in the disorder may be brought on by following the teaching. A third major criticism is that Peale's philosophy is based on exaggerating the fears of his readers and followers, and that this exaggerated fear inevitably leads to aggression and the destruction of those considered "negative".

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Peale's views are critically reviewed in a article by psychiatrist R. Murphy, published in The Nation, titled "Think Right: With saccharine terrorism, Mr. Peale refuses to allow his followers to hear, speak or see any evil. For him real human suffering does not exist; there is no such thing as murderous rage, suicidal despair, cruelty, lust, greed, mass poverty, or illiteracy.

All these things he would dismiss as trivial mental processes which will evaporate if thoughts are simply turned into more cheerful channels. This attitude is so unpleasant it bears some search for its real meaning. It is clearly not a genuine denial of evil but rather a horror of it. A person turns his eyes away from human bestiality and the suffering it evokes only if he cannot stand to look at it. By doing so he affirms the evil to be absolute, he looks away only when he feels that nothing can be done about it The belief in pure evil, an area of experience beyond the possibility of help or redemption, is automatically a summons to action: In child-rearing it drives parents into trying to obliterate rather than trying to nurture one or another area of the child's emerging personality In international relationships it leads to war.

As soon as a religious authority endorses our capacity for hatred, either by refusing to recognize unpleasantness in the style of Mr Peale or in the more classical style of setting up a nice comfortable Satan to hate, it lulls our struggles for growth to a standstill Thus Mr Peale's book is not only inadequate for our needs but even undertakes to drown out the fragile inner voice which is the spur to inner growth.

Harvard scholar Donald Meyer would seem to agree with this assessment, presenting similar warnings of a religious nature. In his article "Confidence Man", Meyer writes, "In more classic literature, this sort of pretension to mastery has often been thought to indicate an alliance with a Lower rather than a Higher power. Meyer writes this exaggerated fear inevitably leads to aggression: Psychologist Martin Seligman , former APA president and the founder of the branch of psychology known as "positive psychology", felt it important to differentiate Peale's positive thinking from his own positive psychology, while acknowledging their common roots.

It is important to see the difference: Is Positive Psychology just positive thinking warmed over?

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Positive Psychology has a philosophical connection to positive thinking, but not an empirical one. The Arminian Heresy discussed at length in the notes for Chapter 5 is at the foundations of Methodism, and Norman Vincent Peale's positive thinking grows out of it. Positive Psychology is also tied at its foundations to the individual freely choosing, and in this sense both endeavors have common roots. But Positive Psychology is also different in significant ways from positive thinking, in that Positive Psychology is based on scientific accuracy while positive thinking is not, and that positive thinking could even be fatal in the wrong circumstances.

First, positive thinking is an armchair activity. Positive Psychology, on the other hand, is tied to a program of empirical and replicable scientific activity. Second, Positive Psychology does not hold a brief for positivity. There is a balance sheet, and in spite of the many advantages of positive thinking, there are times when negative thinking is to be preferred. Although there are many studies that correlate positivity with later health, longevity, sociability, and success, the balance of the evidence suggests that in some situations negative thinking leads to more accuracy.

Where accuracy is tied to potentially catastrophic outcomes for example, when an airplane pilot is deciding whether to de-ice the wings of her airplane , we should all be pessimists. With these benefits in mind, Positive Psychology aims for the optimal balance between positive and negative thinking.

Third, many leaders in the Positive Psychology movement have spent decades working on the "negative" side of things. Positive Psychology is a supplement to negative psychology, not a substitute.


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Seligman went on to say "Positive thinking often involves trying to believe upbeat statements such as 'Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better,' in the absence of evidence or even in the face of contrary evidence Learned optimism, in contrast, is about accuracy" Ibid, page Another difference experts noted was that though Seligman describes his positive psychology as a self-empowering program completely within the ability of the individual to achieve on his or her own, experts described positive thinking as disempowering to the individual and a religion of weakness, where individuals are told by Peale they cannot overcome their negative circumstances without his autosuggestive "techniques," which he claims will give them the power of God.

As Donald Meyer quotes Peale as saying, "No man, however resourceful or pugnacious, is a match for so great an adversary as a hostile world. He is at best a puny and impotent creature quite at the mercy of the cosmic and social forces in the midst of which he dwells. Pantheon books, , p. Meyer adds that the proof that positive thinking cannot work is that according to Peale, even with God's power on one's side, one still cannot face negative reality, which is always stronger.

Meyer, like Seligman, notes that such unrealistic thinking by a positive thinker could easily be fatal. Faith that you could defeat an opponent who could run faster than you would be contemptible since it could only mean you expected God to lend you power He refused to lend your opponent or that you hoped your opponent lacked self-knowledge, lacked faith, and hence failed to use his real powers.

Such faith could be fatal if it led you into competitions it would be fatal to lose. As for those competitions where luck or accident or providence might decide, certainly the faith which looked to luck or accident or providence would be contemptible, and also possibly fatal Ibid, p. Episcopal theologian later bishop John M. Krumm criticized Peale and the "heretical character" of his teaching on positive thinking. Krumm cites "the emphasis upon techniques such as the repetition of confident phrases Very little is said about the sovereign mind and purpose of God; much is made of the things men can say to themselves and can do to bring about their ambitions and purposes.

Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr , professor of applied Christianity, Union Theological Seminary, reported similar concerns about positive thinking. Anything which corrupts the gospel hurts Christianity. And it hurts people too. It helps them to feel good while they are evading the real issues of life. Redbook Magazine, September , pp.

God becomes sort of a master psychiatrist who will help you get out of your difficulties. The formulas and the constant reiteration of such themes as "You and God can do anything" are very nearly blasphemous. There just aren't that many openings. Curry covers topics from a foundational definition of pastoral counseling to the unique considerations in counseling women, African Americans, and others.

One chapter is devoted to the most common types of pastoral counseling in the parish setting: This pocket-sized volume provides categories for the intake interview, suggestions for planning the counseling session, instructions for creating a genogram, and brief discussions of legal and ethical issues. Includes a chapter about designing a pastoral counseling program in your own church! Hardcover , pages. Published March 15th by Judson Pr first published June 1st To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book.

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