Faith vs. Positive Thinking

by Maurice Pujol
Published February 16, 2006

Is positive thinking the same as faith?

Is a good attitude in the face of illness or adversity the same as a faith commitment?

Many people would answer these questions in the affirmative, which betrays a basic confusion they have about faith itself. Faith is not just a positive mental attitude, though people of faith usually have one. Positive thinking can be the result of faith, but it is definitely not faith’s equivalent.

There have been medical studies which show that people with a “positive outlook” get healed of diseases more often than those who don’t have such an attitude. They also heal more quickly than others. One study even indicated that laughter helps a person recover from illness.

If you agree with the conclusions drawn in these studies and you decide to adopt a positive attitude in all your circumstances, you have made the step to being a positive thinker. This does not, however, make you a person of faith. Positive thinking is a mental exercise, an agreement with an idea. Since positive thinking is good for you, you decide to think positively.

A person can make this choice, can express mental assent, without having any faith at all. Yet, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard in recent weeks how “positive attitude” is the right way to deal with an illness, even from people at church. I’m not making any judgments about the quality of other people’s faith, and I suppose I’m more sensitive to their choice of words, since words are my business.

Faith is a commitment of one’s entire being, not a mental exercise. When I say I “believe” God, it’s different from saying I “believe in” God. Believing in something is an agreement with an idea; believing something runs much deeper. I can believe in the importance of having speed limits on our highways, but I will never exceed those limits if I actually “believe” them. A lot of people who have received speeding tickets will agree that speed limits are a good thing.

People who “believe in” the Bible will say that this book contains a lot of important moral teachings, giving us examples of the practical benefits of ordering our behavior according to a certain code of ethics. People who “believe” the Bible will say that it is God’s inspired Word, a direct revelation of His nature to us and His will for us. The latter group will take more seriously the mandate to keep their actions in line with their words. Believing is about “doing” more than it is about “saying.”

There are two basic types of knowledge. One is “sense knowledge,” or the kind most people generally mean when they talk about knowledge. This knowledge is information we get through our senses, which our brains assimilates and processes to various conclusions. We hear a familiar sound, and our brains tell us it’s coming from a bird singing outside the window.

Sense knowledge also comes to us through reading (sight) and seeing/hearing (television reports). This is how we learn about those medical studies on positive thinking. We process this knowledge and conclude that positive thinking has certain benefits when we’re dealing with illness or some other crisis.

This sort of knowledge has its limits. A deeper, more powerful form of knowing is called revelation knowledge. This is the “knowing” that accrues to people of faith, coming not through the senses but directly through our spirits from the very Spirit of God. This faith connection is the real source of healing from illness and deliverance from troubles.

The Bible describes this type of knowledge in various ways. Sometimes, we are told that someone, “filled with the Spirit of God,” speaks prophetically. Revelation knowledge is also described as the “still, small voice” of the Holy Spirit. Believers who are in tune with this knowledge are often prompted to make certain decisions or choices during a normal day that later turn out to be very wise ones.

When a believer in tune with the Holy Spirit prays for a healing, there is a certain “knowing” and peace that come when the healing is given. It is a conviction beyond all sense knowledge and superior to any form of positive thinking. To the world at large, though, such a believer will definitely come across as a “positive thinker,” one with a “good attitude.”

If you’re a believer, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and have settled in your heart that He is who He says He is, you still may not have tapped your special reservoir of revelation knowledge. It’s there waiting for you, containing all the blessings contained in the word “salvation.”

The Greek word for salvation, as recorded in the New Testament, means wholeness, completion and harmony, in body, soul and spirit. It means good health – physical and mental, as well as spiritual. These are the benefits of revelation knowledge, superior in every way to mere positive thinking.

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