Why Are Christian Positive Thinkers Wrong?

What Is Possibility Thinking?

Possibility thinking is Robert Schuller's Christian form of Positive Thinking.  He says, "I call it possibility thinking. Others call it faith."  In essence, he stresses never verbalizing negative emotions.  He also stresses conditioning the subconscious mind by programming positive thoughts into the conscious mind.  To Schuller, faith in oneself and self-esteem is vital to success.  He believes that in each one of us there resides an inner reservoir of divinely implanted creative potential which we can draw upon.  "Fill your life with the God Spirit and all kinds of power will break forth."

Schuller encourages Christians to use deep relaxation and meditation to enter the "alpha state."  He is wrong in teaching that Transcendental Meditation, for example, is not religious or anti-Christian.  It is both.  He is also wrong in teaching that the mantras with the "M" sound will help clear your mind from the distractions in the world.  Maharishi Yogi himself has said TM mantras are spiritual vehicles involving or invoking Hindu spirits or deities, which the Bible would identify as evil spirits or "demons."  Robert Schuller is also wrong in stating "it is important to remember that meditation in any form is the harnessing, by human beings, of God's divine laws."  They are clearly eastern or occultic.  They are used for occultic purposes, such a developing psychic powers or helping one realize one is God.  Schuller's form of meditation should be rejected by the church -- not accepted by it or practiced as a means of spiritual growth.

Robert Schuller's Religious Views

He believes what is needed is a "reformation of theology" along psychological lines.  He states that (1) "Christian theology has failed to accommodate" modern psychology; and (2) that Christian theology has failed to "apply the proven insights" of psychology to human behaviour.

Sin is Redefined

Schuller teaches "sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem."  Thus, "the core of sin is a lack of self-esteem."  The Bible teaches something altogether different.  Sin is transgression against God and His law, not against oneself. (I John 3:4).  David said, "Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned" (Psalm 51:4).  Robert Schuller teaches:  "Do not fear pride.  The easiest job God has is to humble us.  God's almost impossible task is to keep us believing every hour of every day how great we are as His sons and daughters. . . "  The Bible teaches "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" and "pride goes before destruction" (James 4:6, Proverbs 16:18).

Salvation is Redefined

Schuller teaches "to be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image. . . "  He teaches "pursuing possibility thinking is the way of the cross. . . the cross sanctifies the ego trip."  He means that the hardships we experience will keep our self-esteem in check just like the cross Jesus died upon was God's method to keep Jesus' self-esteem in check.  Does Schuller mean to say that Jesus didn't have a perfect humanity and required the humility of the cross to keep His self-esteem in check?  The proper answer to that question is no.  Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

The Bible teaches that salvation is repentance from sin (and self) and faith in Christ for forgiveness of sins (Acts 26:18).  As a result of being "born again," a true Christian will surrender his life to God and deny his own way.  Thus, the Bible teaches that the way of the cross is self-denial, not Possibility Thinking (Matthew 16:24, 25).

Unbelief is Redefined

Schuller teaches unbelief  "is really a profoundly deep sense of unworthiness."  Unbelief in the Bible is mainly referring to man's rejection of God's gift of salvation, that is, belief in His Son Jesus Christ (John 3:36).  This is what Schuller does not mention.  In fact, where in the Bible does God ever mention that unbelief is man not thinking he has value?  Where does the Bible say unbelief is a profoundly deep sense of unworthiness?

Hell is Redefined

Schuller teaches, "and what is 'hell'?  It is the loss of pride that naturally follows separation from God. . . the person is in hell when he has lost his self-esteem."  The Bible, however, teaches that hell is a real place of eternal torment, black darkness, and weeping and gnashing of teeth, not a state of mind. (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:10-15; Matthew 13:42).

Evangelism is Redefined

Schuller teaches, "I do not think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality, and hence counter productive to the evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth and un-Christian strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition."  He also teaches "for the church to address the unchurched with a theocentric [God centered] attitude is to invite failure in mission."  The Bible, however, teaches that unless people are aware of their "lost and sinful condition" before a Holy God (a "theocentric attitude"), they will never be saved (Romans 10:13-15).  Schuller is wrong.  Jesus said, "and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations" (Luke 24:47).

Sanctification is Redefined

Schuller states, "God's ultimate objective is to turn you and me into self-confident persons."  The Bible teaches God's ultimate purpose is to conform us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).  In conclusion, the above views of Robert Schuller are not biblical and should not be accepted by the Christian church.



For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library.  Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book.  All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com. 

A Preliminary Assessment of Word/Faith Televangelism

A preliminary assessment can now be made.  There are two types that are most prominent today.  The first type is that of positive or possibility thinkers such as Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller.  The second type is that of positive confessionists, such as Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Robert Tilton and others.

The positive/possibility thinker believes in the power of the mind, the power of visualizing, the power of imagination, the power of faith.  What one thinks, visualizes, imagines, or believes strongly enough will be realized.  One's inner potential is so enormous and one's inner energy so powerful that one can literally think, visualize, imagine, or believe into being what one desires.  To the possibility thinker, the greatest threat to the possibilities that can be brought into being are a bad self-image and an absence of self-love.  Those negative elements are produced by negative thinking, it is said, including the type of thinking that entertains mans lostness before God, not to mention his total depravity.  In fact, the emphasis upon human sinfulness is itself the cardinal sin, for such emphasis would quickly turn a beckoning success story into a string of failures.  Instead, all the God talk, Christ talk, Spirit talk, and Bible talk, in general  should be designed to bolster or produce self-esteem so that one can begin to tap one's vast inner resources and realize one's incredible potential.

The positive confessionists have much in common with this approach.  But there is a difference.  Whereas the positive/possibility thinker is more "natural" in his orientation, the positive confessionist is more "supernatural."  The former emphasizes success as the natural outflow of the enormous human spirit.  In a sense, it is one-upmanship -- what the secularist can accomplish, the Christian can achieve more effectively...with Jesus.  The latter holds out the prospect of prosperity and success as the supernatural realization of the even more enormous possibilities that are presented to him in the framework of salvation.

In short, according to the positive/possibility thinker, man succeeds by mobilizing what he already is and regards success as no surprise.  Overcoming a bad self-image, of course, is part of the total package.  According to the positive confessionist, man prospers be claiming what God promises and calls this a miracle.  Part of the package is that he rests from Satan what is already his.  .

However these types may differ, they are at one in that they place man in the center rather than God.  And in spite of their different shades, they are only too eager to cooperate with one another.  For instance, the leading proponent of possibility thinking, Robert Schuller, frequently participates in the conferences of the positive confessionists and has even contributed the forward to one of Paul Yongi Cho's books.  The objective of both groups is to secure success and happiness for man rather than to present the biblical message of sin and grace.  Forget "glorifying God and enjoying Him forever!"  The goal of the Christian life is to "name it and claim it."  

It appears that biblical theology as defined previously and a systematic theology carefully built upon that theology and, on the other hand, the two types of televangelism described thus far are worlds in collision, for a properly constructed systematic theology places our attention upon the sin-holiness polarity with all that that entails.  Biblical theology does not allow a single issue -- and a man-centered issue at that -- isolated from the thrust of Scripture to dominate the preaching enterprise.

It should further be underscored that both types of televangelism are quite pretentious and aware of the different direction they take.  The first type of televangelism holds that the perspective of self-esteem puts its own imprint upon, and therefore requires a radical change in, the way one does (systematic) theology and in one's philosophical outlook upon life.  The second type of televangelism is of the opinion that it has finally unearthed the "full Gospel," well beyond any gospel that (biblical theology) has been able to formulate.

The Apostle Paul informs the Romans that he desires to come in the "fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:29, KJV).  In the light of the context of the epistle, in which he describes the "full gospel," it is questionable whether the theology of self-esteem squares with that "gospel," or whether the theology of prosperity squares with that gospel in its "fullness."  In a nutshell, the full gospel according to Paul is that sinners are accepted in the presence of God as members of the kingdom only through the righteousness of Christ and subsequently as saints enjoy that presence and serve in that kingdom only by surrendering everything to Christ.  Prerequisite for entrance into the kingdom is a loss of self rather than an esteem of self, although characteristic of service in that kingdom is self-sacrifice rather than health and wealth.

A televangelist, just like any other preacher, must preach the Word.  He must do so properly, informed by a properly construed biblical theology, one that springs from a covenantal perspective.  He must do so fully, informed by a carefully constructed systematic theology, which is to say that he does not confine himself to some popular themes, let alone fund-raising schemes.

His preaching must be evangelistic and edificational.  In his evangelistic preaching he must invite the sinner to come to Christ with his rebellious heart for it to be killed (Romans 6:6), with his guilty record for it to be cleansed (Romans 3:25), and with his unholy life for it to be transformed (John 15:5).  In short, he must invite the sinner to come to Christ for regeneration, justification, and sanctification, the sum and substance of the New Covenant, promised by the Father, personified by the Son, and personalized by the Spirit.

In his edificational preaching, he must bring the Word of God, including promise and law, to bear upon the believer.  He must seek to bring him into an ever-closer conformity to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) and  be intent upon mobilizing the church as the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14) in the areas of evangelism and edification, so as to make an impact upon all of society (Acts 17:6).


For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library.  Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book.  All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.