A former Peale protege and a Unitarian minister think so.
In the current issue of the journal Lutheran Quarterly, the Rev. John Gregory Tweed of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the Rev. George D. Exoo of Pittsburgh write that many of Peale’s uplifting affirmations originated with an “obscure teacher of occult science” named Florence Scovel Shinn. Lutheran Quarterly is a juried academic journal of theology and history, with a national circulation of 1,000.
After comparing his books to hers, the authors cite scores of specific instances in which Peale and Shinn not only think alike but use similar or identical phrases.
Tweed began investigating the Shinn-Peale link in 1990. Friends who credited Shinn for their success had given Tweed her book, “The Game of Life and How to Play It.”
“I came across the phrase, ‘When one door shuts, another door opens’ - one of the great Peale battle cries,” said Tweed.
Shinn, who died in 1940, drew on mystical sources dating to the ancient Egyptian philosopher Hermes Trismegistus and the secrets of Freemasonry, as delineated in “The Kybalion,” published in 1908 at a Masonic lodge."
Rick Warren "He also studied at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and earned a Doctor of Ministry." |
Warren is on the Matt Harrison diet and doing well. |