[4] Serving as a pulpit replacement in a subsequent summer break (for an Ohio church pastor that had fallen ill), the Boston theology trainee was persuaded by his father to abandon the formal preaching style of his training for one of simplicity, which led Peale to talk about "Jesus Christ... relat[ing him] to the simplicities of human lives," and which led, he would later recollect, to a "good reception" and "look[s] of gratitude and goodness" on the faces of congregants.

[4] He received a call to Syracuse, New York[1][4] and in 1927 took the pulpit at the University Methodist Church;[4] it was also while there that he became one of the first American clergymen to bring his sermons to the emerging commercial technology of radio,[4][citation needed] a media decision that added to his general popularity, and that he would later extend in the same way to television.

[4] His tenure at Marble Collegiate Church, which dated to 1628 and was "said to be the oldest continuous Protestant congregation in the country",[4] began with an attendance at service of 200, but which would grow to thousands, as a result of his "spirited sermons".

[14][15] Following the 1929 market crash, and being presented with congregants with "complex problems," his wife counseled him to "fin[d] a psychiatrist who could help parish members," which he did through consultation with his physician, Clarence W.

":[17]: 266  Meyer notes that Blanton's own book, Love or Perish (1956), "contrasted so distinctly at so many points with the Peale evangel" of "positive thinking" that these works had virtually nothing in common.

:[17]: 273 In the same period, Peale returned to the radio work that he began in Syracuse, as a means to deal with what he termed a personal obsession, "reach[ing] as many people as I could with the message of Jesus Christ.

[4] (Some of his other works include The Tough-Minded Optimist (1961)[18]) By the end of World War II in 1945, Peale, his wife Ruth, and Raymond Thornburg (a businessman from Pawling, New York), had founded Guideposts magazine, a non-denominational forum that presented inspirational stories.

[26] In 1947, Peale, along with educator Kenneth Beebe, co-founded the Horatio Alger Association, an organization dedicated to recognizing and honoring Americans who achieved success despite facing challenging circumstances.

The association aimed to celebrate perseverance, hard work, and determination, values that aligned closely with Peale's philosophy of overcoming adversity through optimism and self-belief.

Guideposts magazine, one of the organization's publications, became popular for its uplifting stories, practical advice, and encouragement to cultivate faith and optimism in the face of life's challenges.

[28] President Ronald Reagan awarded Peale the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honor in the United States) on March 26, 1984, for his contributions to the field of theology.

Murphy wrote, "All this advertising is vindicated as it were, by a strict cleaving to the side of part truth," and referred to the work and the quoted material as "implausible and woodenly pious".

Agreeing with Murphy is William Lee Miller, a professor at the University of Virginia, who wrote an extensive article called "Some Negative Thinking About Norman Vincent Peale."

[17]: 264  While his techniques have been debated by psychologists, Peale said his theological practice and strategy was directed more at self-analysis, forgiveness, character development, and growth[40][full citation needed] which has been suggested by some[who?]

Ellis, ranked by the American Psychological Association as the second most influential psychologist of the 20th century (behind Carl Rogers, but ahead of Sigmund Freud),[43] documented in several of his books the many individuals he has treated who suffered mental breakdowns from following Peale's teachings.

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.

In his article "Confidence Man", Meyer wrote, "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.

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.

"[53] A. Powell Davies, pastor of All Souls' Unitarian Church, Washington D.C., added his view: It has sort of a drug effect on people to be told they need not worry.

[54]William Lee Miller, professor in religious studies at the University of Virginia, expressed similar concerns: "The absolute power that Dr. Peale's followers insist on granting to their Positive Thinking may betray, however, a note of desperation.

The Horatio Alger type seems to have had a simple, clear confidence in getting ahead by mastering a craft, by inventing something out in the barn, or by doing an outstanding job as office boy.

[56] As Donald Meyer noted, It was evident that Peale had managed to tap wide audiences formed by prolonged changes in the tone and morale of American society, for whom the coherence of Protestantism even as late as the early twentieth century was not enough.

Reinhold Niebuhr told the public the Peale message was "a partial picture of Christianity, a sort of half-truth", and added "The basic sin of this cult is its egocentricity.

Peale was acting chairman and Secretary of the National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government (NCUCG),[61][verification needed] a pressure group opposed to Franklin Roosevelt's policies.

late in 1938, Peale appeared with Elizabeth Dilling, the Reverend Edward Lodge Curran, and other figures at a "Mass Meeting and Pro-American Rally" (on October 30),[63] at the Commodore Hotel in New York; this event was later described by Arthur Derounian (John Roy Carlson) in his 1943 book Under Cover.

Curran was a known supporter of Franco and other right-wing causes,[64] as well as being "an anti‐communist and... an advocate of the, 'social justice' credo of Father [Charles] Coughlin, who was eventually ordered, off the air by his superiors" (and who Peale had earlier called out and harshly criticized for his "bizarre demogogy" in 1935).

[66][verification needed] In 1943, after the U.S. entry into World War II, Peale preached a sermon denouncing antisemitism and demanding that the government and church take steps to "stamp it out.

President Harry Truman, for one, accused Nixon of tacitly approving Peale's anti-Catholic sentiment, and it remained a hot issue on the campaign trail.

[75] The Reverend Billy Graham said at the National Council of Churches on June 12, 1966, that "I don't know of anyone who had done more for the kingdom of God than Norman and Ruth Peale or have meant any more in my life for the encouragement they have given me.

[80] At the invitation of Robert R. Spitzer, former under-secretary in the Ford administration, Peale, accompanied by his wife, Ruth, spoke several times to the student leaders at MSOE University prior to passing in 1993, influencing engineers, technical writers, managers, and architects for decades who today serve as executives in companies like GE, Nvidia, and many others.