The Power of Positive Thinking Interfaith 21st Century Edition, what a great book! Even it’s last minute, make it a gift, particularly to young people who are tired of life and lost their dreams. I would even advocate educators teaching international studies use it as a reference in their classes showing the similarities and differences in today’s world.
Dr. Peale’s inspirational book in the early 1950s was one of the most influential books of the century. It was a best seller for months, selling more than 24 million copies in 42 languages. There’s a reason for that.
Dr. Peale put into print what every thinking person should know…thoughts and feelings dictate actions and a life can and is changed by thinking positively. The theologian drew from the Bible and other Christian scriptures to show that was so.
Enter Mr. Ismaik, who happened to be an Arab Muslim billionaire. He did not know Dr. Peale, in fact, he was only a teenager when the Reverend died.
But he did know his own Quaran and knew enough about the Torah and other Abrahamic beliefs to see the similarities. Mr. Ismaik also knew that each of the three monotheistic faiths, Islam, Judaism and Christianity really did incorporate the very same way of life, a belief that faith is a strong foundation and shared religious teachings can bring about a new world.
Dr. Peale said when he wrote his book he learned the hard way how to think positively. Mr. Ismaik wrote his contribution knowing so many of the Islam faith would not read or heed Dr. Peale without affirmation from the Quaran. This book is his outstanding effort to make that happen.
So this book with writings from the pair of them, the theologian and the billionaire, contains the writings that show how, for instance, where the Bible shows how to break a bad habit, the Quarn does the same, in slightly different words. Where Dr. Peale showed how the King James Bible gave ways to use faith in healing, Ms. Ismaik cites similar passages in the Hebrew bible and the Quran that do the same.
The book gives great individual stories as well as numerous citations where all three religions have passages that give the same message, lightly, yet firmly, and with an eye to the reader becoming a better person.
Read how the religions give similar ways to relax, to break the habits of worrying, to overcome defeat, to expect, and get the best, in effect, to create your own happiness.
The book should resonate with people of all faiths and in an educational and entertaining way shows the shared philosophy of Judaism, Christianity and Islam that is strong enough to unify and give a strong universal voice to a world now polarized and torn apart.
I will definitely be picking this book up!
Comments are closed.