As A Man Thinketh
“As A Man Thinketh” is a phrase from the Old King James version of the bible verse Proverbs 23:7. Quoted in full below is Proverbs 23:7
“Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.”
Proverbs 23:7
This verse is most commonly quoted only as “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” This bible verse has been commonly quoted by Christians to teach that whatever a man thinks in his heart, that is what he really is or shall become in due time.
As A Man Thinketh – My Blog Title
This is my blog where I put my thoughts and reflections down into words.
I have thought of several domain names but they were all taken. Some of these are: “My Words” and “My Thoughts”. It is difficult nowadays to find a short and yet good domain name as many people are hoarding on to domain names they think that are good but never really uploading real sites while depriving others of the use of the domain name.
Some of these people actually put the domain name up for sales. Would they really get a good revenue from selling the domain name that they are hoarding? I doubt so! While they continue to hoard on to the domain names, they will have to continue paying US$10 for each domain name every year. Good luck to them!
As I was unable to obtain “My Words” and “My Thoughts” as the domain name to this blog, it dawned on me that I could use “As A Man Thinketh” for my domain name. Too bad for me that even this domain name was taken for a commercial purpose to promote the sales of a book, “As A Man Thinketh”.
As A Man Thinketh – A Book
The phrase “As A Man Thinketh” is also the title of a book written by James Allen (1864-1912), published in 1903. This is another one of those “Law of Attraction” books besides, Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” and Wallace D Wattles’ “The Science Of Getting Rich” of which are the two most famous books read, studied, distributed and taught by many proponents of the “Law of Attraction”. The seven chapters of the book “As A Man Thinketh” by James Allen are entitled as follow:
- Thought and Character
- Effect of Thought on Circumstances
- Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
- Thought and Purpose
- The Thought-Factor in Achievement
- Visions and Ideals
- Serenity
From the title of each chapters, you can tell that they focus much about the power of thoughts, which is essentially the teachings of “Law of Attraction”.
Law Of Attraction
To those who are unfamiliar to the “Law of Attraction”, it is merely a new age teaching that you can cause what you think and imagine in your mind to manifest physically in the natural if you focus your energy of your thought powerful enough. The clearest teaching on the “Law of Attraction is found in Wallace D Wattles’ “The Science Of Getting Rich” which is a fundamental text and reference for any such teaching.
The teaching of the book is based on a bible verse Mark chapter 11 verse 23 where Jesus Christ told his disciples, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Wallace D Wattles was once a Methodist. Being once a Christian, it is not surprising that he used a bible verse which he had received insight into and put into practice the way he knew how.
Law Of Attraction Versus Word Of Faith
Jesus said this to his disciples when they were astounded that a fig tree Jesus cursed a day before dried up from its root and died. Turning to His disciples, Jesus taught them that anybody could do the same if only they believe in their heart the words that they say shall come to pass, they can have whatsoever they say.
Most of new age teachings, metaphysical teachings or law of attraction, whatever names you call them by, focus on the power of thoughts – the mind. In 2006, this teaching has been rehashed and brought to great popularity by the film and book, “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. The film and book began by saying that Rhonda Byrne the author was facing great financial difficulty in her life when her daughter sent her the book, “The Science of Getting Rich” which turned her life around.
The rest of the chapters were elaborations made by different proponents of the “Law of Attraction” with Bob Proctor as one of the featured persona and selling point of the film. So is this a new age teaching or a Christian teaching? The difference is subtle. For a long time and even until now, Christians have condemned this teaching as “new age”, “occult” and non-Christian. Nevertheless, E. W. Kenyon and Kenneth E. Hagin (who founded Rhema Bible Training Center) have thought this teaching all their life.
In Christianity, this wave of teaching that began in the 20th century and prevailed especially strong in the late 20th century was called the “Word of Faith” movement. Christians called it the “Principle of Faith” or simply “Faith” while the non-Christians called it “Law of Attraction”. The main difference between the two though subtle is essential and vital.
Christians focused on the power of God while proponents of the “Law of Attraction” focused on the power of their own minds. A strong proponent of the “Law of Attraction” is a man in his 80’s named Bob Proctor. In Bob Proctor’s teachings, he frequently made reference to “God”. However, it is unclear who this God he was referring to. To the Christians, it is God the Father, Jesus Christ – God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The fundamental of Christianity is to rely on God who doeth all things for those who hold fast their faith in Him and not rely on their own effort and abilities. On the contrary, proponents of the “Law of Attraction” teaches that anyone can do anything by the power of their mind since they do not (or at least not explicitly) believe in God.
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