Secret or Sham?
by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin on 02/28/2007 at 11:52 AM
Rhonda Byrne has a secret. Her self-help book, The Secret, could be the fastest-selling book of its kind in the history of publishing. Her secret? Let your thoughts and feelings get you everything you want. Newsweek reports:
The "secret" is the law of attraction, which holds that you create your own reality through your thoughts. Its explicit claim is that you can manipulate objective physical reality — the numbers in a lottery drawing, the actions of other people who may not even know you exist — through your thoughts and feelings. In the words of "author and personal empowerment advocate" Lisa Nichols: "When you think of the things you want, and you focus on them with all of your intention, then the law of attraction will give you exactly what you want, every time." Every time! Byrne emphasizes that this is a law inherent in "the universe," an inexhaustible storehouse of goodies from which you can command whatever you desire from the comfort of your own living room by following three simple steps: Ask, Believe, Receive.
Sound a little familiar? Maybe this will ring a bell. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7). Someone's on to something ... almost. For Christians, blessings come from a wise, benevolent God. According to Byrne's "secret," which is wholly unscientific, by the way, you are god (which is probably why Oprah Winfrey claims she has been living by the law of attraction all her life without even knowing it). You control your destiny. You attract good things to yourself.
It appears this concept is a repackaging of Satan's temptation of our Savior. "Tell these stones to become bread"; "throw yourself down"; or his offer to Eve in the garden: "you will be like God, knowing good and evil." His shtick is predictable if nothing else: Use your own means to get the things only God can give you. The best way to spot the enemy's counterfeit work is to look at its fruit.
On an ethical level, "The Secret" appears deplorable. It concerns itself almost entirely with a narrow range of middle-class concerns—houses, cars and vacations, followed by health and relationships, with the rest of humanity a very distant sixth. Even some of the major figures in the film confess to uneasiness with its relentless materialism. "I love 'The Secret' but I also think it's missing a couple things," says "metaphysician" Joe Vitale. "If I were producing it, I would have added something more about serving others."
Even a superficial examination of Byrne's "secret," shows that its purpose is to provide things that ultimately do not make people happy. And this is where Satan's plans often unravel. Only Jesus Christ can offer the peace and hope human souls long for.
1. Samantha said the following at 12:15 PM on Feb 28:
Same old story in new packaging. I've tried this so called "law of attraction." I've fixated on finding a a husband or winning the Powerball -- hasn't come through for me yet. (At this point, I'd take either one really...) Now I've decided to let God handle what happens.
Even though Jesus says to ask and you will receive, He doesn't mean ask for a million dollars and you'll get it. He's telling you to ask without fear or doubt but at the same time, realize that you'll only get what you're asking for if it's in God's will. Or you'll get something better than what you're asking for. Or you'll get nothing if what you're asking for is harmful to you or your relationship with Him.
I see this as a serious problem in the church today. Too many people are telling folks to simply ask for your heart's desires and it will be given to you. That's just not the case, y'all. We're given what God doles out as a blessing or a trial, but what we're given is all for His glory and benefit. He has our lives in His hands.... If we're single for our entire lives, it's for His purposes. If we're married, it's for His purposes.
Ultimately, our reason for being is to glorify the One True Living God and to know Him. Everything else is cotton candy.
2. Mike Theemling said the following at 12:31 PM on Feb 28:
I haven't seen the film but the premise reminds me a lot of the movie "Bruce Almighty".
Bruce has received a bum deal in life and blames God for his trouble ("God is a mean kid with a magnifying glass and an anthill. I'm the ant"). He touts that if he were God he would make life better for everyone.
However once Bruce is granted the power of God he forgets about being benevolant and just uses the power for his own gain and pleasure.
It just reveals that most of us are interested "getting more" for ourselves.
3. Jacob said the following at 2:00 PM on Feb 28:
It reminds me of the "word faith" "name it and claim it" teachings of some hetrodoxical Christian groups.
It also reminds me of a "documentary" I saw once called "What the Bleep Do We Know?" It was all about how our positive feelings can alter reality, etc.
In reality, this is nothing more than a New Age, panthesistic mantra. Problems arise when two people both "positively believe" that they can both have the same thing. There are only three options: one of them gets it, the other gets it, or neither of them gets it. It's like the "self-esteem/believe in yourself" movement. The reality is that life isn't fair and that we should be greatful for what God has given us. We should ask God for the ability to pray "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done," and actually mean it.
4. Jethro said the following at 3:03 PM on Feb 28:
Two things:
1. Sounds remarkably like the central premise of 'What the Bleep do We Know?' -- which wasn't actually that bad a movie -- although the efficacy of the approach is questionable.
2. It's funny to hear you lambaste this approach as "wholly unscientific" when that's exactly what people say about Christianity -- especially the power of prayer.
Actually, point to ponder, under this 'laws of attraction' approach, if you fail to get what you want it can easily be explained as 'you weren't focusing hard enough'. In Christianity if you don't get what you pray for it's because it 'wasn't within God's will'. So looking at the two from an objective outsiders perspective, what's the difference?
5. Becca said the following at 3:38 PM on Feb 28:
Just to get it out there -- "What the Bleep Do We Know" was heavily influenced and supported by a cult called Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. JZ Knight, a central figure in this cult, appears in the film with the "spiritual entity" Ramtha "speaking through her".
So, fun movie? Probably. Remotely plausible? Not at all. (Not to mention, virtually everything they say about quantum physics in the film is absurd!)
6. Chris Krycho said the following at 3:44 PM on Feb 28:
Jethro, What the Bleep Do We Know was the most absurd piece of pseudo-scientific garbage I've ever had the misfortune of encountering, other than a book of similar premise which attempted (and miserably failed) to synthesize Zen philosophy with quantum mechanics. Any time philosophers start trying to justify their philosophy - no matter what philosophy that may be - with quantum mechanics, you'd better call your physics geek friend and ask them for a second opinion. They started going wrong early on in their explanation of quantum mechanics and just got worse from there.
One primary difference between people attempting to justify this sort of "want it, get it" New Age theology and Christians discussing prayer is the quantitative difference in evidence for the former and the latter. While scientific studies may not have said much about prayer, history and science together very strongly point to the existence of God and the veracity of the claims of the Bible (and thus, the validity of Christianity). In contrast, there is to the best of my knowledge, no evidence, scientific or historical, that this sort of New Age nonsense ever has, currently does, or ever will produce any results. This is not a new phenomena; it is simply a new package on a very old one. "There is nothing new under the sun," remember?
Thus, while there may be superficial resemblances, the differences are significant and important. Don't miss that - especially in the context of communicating your faith and explaining to others why they should put their faith in Christ.
7. Jethro said the following at 4:22 PM on Feb 28:
Chris,
I'm stunned, how could anyone seriously doubt that JZ Knight is channeling the spirit of a 35,000 year old Lemurian (Atlantis, don't you know) warrior named Ramtha?
You make an interesting point though, quantitative studies have shown no effect of intercessory prayer (believe me, I've looked into this). What's really interesting though is that we are all very quick to accept God's hand at work when someone says 'I prayed for X and I received it', but if someone says 'I channeled Ramtha and received X' we would dismiss it as chance and probably label them a kook.
I'm not suggesting that God doesn't answer prayer, but how do we differentiate between answered prayer and random chance? Sometimes they appear indistinguishable.....
On top of that, do we do God a disservice when we label chance as answered prayer?
8. Samuel PG said the following at 5:02 PM on Feb 28:
It is hard to believe that anyone buys into it. It seems like the law of noncontradiction is pretty innate knowledge and yet no one asks, "If I focus with all my energy on winning this woman as a wife, and so does that man, and the woman in question focuses all of her energy on winning a different man, what happens?"
9. Suzanne said the following at 5:11 PM on Feb 28:
Jethro, my "wholly unscientific" comment was based on the Newsweek article I was citing, which itself stated: "On a scientific level, the law of attraction is preposterous." I wasn't arguing that prayer is scientific. Clearly prayer resides in the spiritual realm, although it impacts the physical. I was simply pointing out that there is no scientific foundation for Byrne's theory.
10. Vincenzo said the following at 5:30 PM on Feb 28:
After nearly two weeks of hearing all of the hype, I watched the Secret with the agents from my RE office yesterday. Personally, I do believe that there is a law of attraction in that we can cause certain types of people or circumstances to gravitate towards us. Many times this can result from the choices we make or even the "vibes" we give off. Despite the film's blatantly New Age/materialistic slant, we need to remember that Satan has no creativity. He just perverts what God has already established.
11. David said the following at 9:18 PM on Feb 28:
All of you have good points and I totally respect many different views on the Secret. After watching The Secret I was a bit skeptical but Holy Batman! ...it made me feel good!
It also awaken a thirst for knowledge, from my readings on various websites & forums it's always hardcore skeptics who bash The Secret.
Just want to share author Michael Prescott's article "Why I'm Not a Skeptic": http://michaelprescott.freeservers.com/skeptic.htm
12. Jacob said the following at 5:55 AM on Mar 1:
David,
With all do respect, I'm skeptical of this line of thinking because I believe that God, not me, creates and controls reality. The cheif and highest end of man is not to feel good. It is to glorify God and to fully enjoy him forever (which will ultimately bring true happiness).
13. Alex said the following at 8:32 AM on Mar 1:
I'm amazed how the same lies can always be repackaged and sold as "new!", "all-powerful!", and "never fails!"...
What a load of junk! Now, that this repackaging works is no surprise since 2 Cor 4:4 tells us that "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers", meaning they have a super difficulty in discerning the spiritual good from the bad, if at all. And before we look down on them, let's remember that it was God who let the light shine in our own hearts and let us see Christ, not through our own wisdom or intellectual philosophizing.
You're looking for knowledge? Try Him where the "fullness of deity dwells bodily." Or better yet, see what Paul's wish for fellow believers was when he wrote to the Colossians (I realize this is a long quote, but it's surprisingly relevant to this "secret"):
Col 2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery,which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
God is so good to us in giving us everything we would ever need in Christ. Let's not be deluded (or robbed) by "plausible arguments" and "secrets" but lets look to a loving Father who gave us the Holy Spirit!
(And I don't mean to sound harsh or like I'm looking to correct someone's theology for the sole sake of orthodoxy, but as I read the comments here I was struck by how some of the comments seemed to be passing by the riches of the Bible...)
Blessings!
14. xeres said the following at 6:07 PM on Mar 4:
the word faith thing is pretty much bogus. Imagine that every thought comes to reality. Yikes! The world will be in a worse shape than is already is. Plus, it's scary. we need to work within the providence of God, not some "I wish and it will grant" thing.
15. emily said the following at 1:19 AM on Mar 6:
hi, intersting dialogue going on here. I've actually watched the seceret, and my main concern with it was that it undermines God's soverignity by having people create their own destinys and realities.
I did however take some of the advice that it offered. The seceret recommends an attitude of grattitude in a rare unmaterialistic section, and for me, that was a timely reminder of what I assume is a good thing in a Christian and any other person. Is there anything wrong with daily saying "Thankyou Lord for my excellent health, the love of my family and friends, and the abundance that I live in!" ? That's one way I've applied the seceret. I'm not going to thank "the Universe" for these good things because I beleive that every good and perfect thing comes from God.
I realized the supermaterialistic overtones promoted in the flick, but I wasn't too worried about it because materialism and consumerism is something I'm aware of and combat daily! My focus isn't going to be on "I will own that diamond neclace by March 25th 2007" Don't be so scared. You've got to know that God is in control and there is nothing you can do that He doesn't already know about. The Seceret is no surprise to him, and probably shouldn't be a surprise to us either, since the advent of existentialism and all sorts of other influences which have denied God's supremacy since the days after the garden of Eden.
The other thing is that the Seceret really really promotes positive semantics. Now, I don't know if positive thinking will get you the new car or the great fellow you've been dreaming about, but personally, I don't think there's anything unbiblical about reducing the negetivity you put out into the world at large. And please correct me if I'm wrong. (or happily deluded) Sure, call 'em vibes. I'd rather send out positive vibes then negetive ones, it's the difference between "Drive safe!" and "Don't crash!". A minor semantic difference puts me in a better head space.
One way I've thought about it is as a tool. Or like the printing press. The printing press was used for spreading God's word, it's the most popular book in the history of the world! But it's also been used to spread evil lies and propoganda and smut. The tool itself is neutral, and it's what we make with it that has consequences.
16. Michaela Stephens said the following at 2:54 PM on Mar 6:
I know by experience that the more we give of our substance, the more the Lord provides for us what we really need. (see Matthew 6:19-21, 24-34) This is the most glorious and wonderful of promises, and it is way better than worldy financial security. I wish you could all experience how cool it is!!
17. easy said the following at 2:39 AM on Dec 31:
Why is it, that when you belive in a God or this or that, most of you feel the need to prove your side to the other?
18. LKC said the following at 12:34 AM on Aug 15:
I have yet to watch "The Seceret,"however,I have heard plenty about it.I think all of you have made some very interesting points.I believe that being positive in every aspect and every situation in life is very beneficial to living a fullfilling life.I strive very hard to live my life by the Golden Rule every day(Do unto others as you would have them do unto you).When I'm nice to someone and they crap on me,I don't retalliate, I just go on. I believe in God, the goodness in the universe and that there is something good in every one,even if it's a tiny microscopic sliver!There is a plan designed for everyone, we just need to seek the correct path,instead of fighting it,that's when things will flow smooth like butter! ;-)