The Secret - Part 2

The Secret - Is Satanic!

"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne is Satanic. I don't say this to be hyperbolic and I am not over exaggerating to make a point. The philosophy she espouses in her book is Satanic in nature and origin.

I don't make claims like this flippantly, and I have read her book(It is fairly short and doesn't take too long to read). Let me explain how I arrive at my conclusion.

The basic tenet of her philosophy is the "law of attraction". This is not a new secret. It represents the common "new age" type thinking that has been around since the beginning of time. The law is that You are in control of the universe. How you think determines everything that happens in the universe. You are the universe, you are god, you are the all powerful force that controls and even creates everything.

I didn't make that up. This is not just a paraphrase or what I think Byrne is saying. She actually writes that in her book. "You are god" is a direct quote.

Here is a direct quote:

The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist, without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who You Really Are. You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life. And now you know The Secret.

Wow! When I read this book I had a visceral reaction - it made me sick to my stomach. Normally, this type of new age philosophy cloaks itself a little better. New agers don't come right out and verbalize their intended conclusion that "you are god", Byrne does.

This is Satanic! Do you remember the Garden of Eden. The serpent comes and speaks to Eve. It tempts Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Ge 3:1). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

You will be like God. That was the lie of the devil in the garden of evil. And this is the lie of "The Secret". You will be like god, because you are god. The devil has been using these lies for centuries and Byrne is just the latest in a long line of charlatans.

The reason the devil tries to deceive people to believe that they are god, that they are the master of the universe, is because if they believe that then they don't need Jesus Christ to be their savior.

More Problems:

The tenets of the secret also have problems just from a logical standpoint. Let me address a few of these.

Byrne suggests that if you just think positively about anything, if you believe you will receive and even act like you already have it, then you will get it. This can be anything from money, to cars, to relationships, to health, healing, anything at all. You don't have to work for any of these things, you just have to train yourself to think positively about these things.

If this is true, then you don't need a job, you don't need to go to school, you don't need to even eat. Just close yourself in your room and think about what ever you want and it will just materialize in your life(given enough time).

This philosophy could end world hunger. Those people that are starving in Africa and other parts of the world don't actually need food. They don't need people to teach them how to farm better and raise crops. They just need to be taught to think positively. They need to be trained to think that they are full and healthy. And without even taking a bite world hunger could end.

Scripture

I love that fact that Byrne quotes scripture to support her views. She pulls them completely out of context and applies them in a way that is completely inconsistent with the intent and meaning of the Bible.

I could go on and on, but I will leave you with this word of warning from scripture.

Isaiah 45:22
22 “ Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.

1 Peter 5:6-11
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

2 Timothy 4:3-5

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The Secret - Part 1

The Secret -- Is Out!

If you haven't heard of "The Secret", that is good! You can read the reviews about this philosophy and book. It is written by Rhonda Byrne and "The Secret" is the title. It has been the number one best seller on the New York Times list for the last 10 weeks. It has sold millions, made millions, and even given a two day special "anointing" by Oprah.

Here is an article that encapsulates, in a more articulate manner, my thoughts on "The Secret" by Al Mohler.

Ever heard of the "Law of Attraction?" Rhonda Byrne learned it from a book entitled The Science of Getting Rich, written by Wallace Wattles in 1910. Wattles was an evangelist for positive thinking and he promised readers that they could attract everything they wanted -- including money, fame, success, or love -- by using his "Law of Attraction."
According to press accounts, Rhonda Byrne was given Wattles' book at a breaking point in her life. Transformed by Wattles' philosophy, Byrne got to work updating the "Law of Attraction" for a new generation. She turned the idea into an Internet-based movie and a book entitled The Secret. Now, the book is a runaway best-seller, ranking number one on The New York Times listing.
We should be very concerned to live in a country in which so many citizens evidently want to be told that they, individually, are the very center of the universe. The Secret is just the latest form of American esoteric positive thinking run amok. The nation seems to endure periodic waves of positive-thinking nonsense, and every generation seems primed to believe that it can have all it wants and more. Can anyone actually believe this stuff?
Evidently so. Oprah is a big fan, as are other Hollywood and entertainment types. Byrne has attracted publicity, books sales, and attention, if nothing else.
According to Byrne, every object and mind in the universe operates on its own frequency, and minds can attract matter. "Thoughts are magnetic," she argues, "and thoughts have a frequency. As you think, those thoughts are sent out into the Universe, and they magnetically attract all like things that are on the same frequency. Everything sent out returns to its source. And the source is you." Yep. You are the center of the universe.
"You are the most powerful magnet in the Universe!," she exclaims. "You contain a magnetic power within you that is more powerful than anything in this world, and this unfathomable magnetic power is emitted through your thoughts."
If you learn to operate by the Law of Attraction, she promises, you can attract anything you want. Success, riches, material objects, weight loss, acclaim . . . all these are to be yours if only you believe.
Food doesn't make you fat -- thinking that food makes you fat makes you fat. You are not sick; you only think you are sick. Reverse the thought and you will be well. If you are not rich, it is only because you are trapped in negative mental patterns. "Every negative thought, feeling, or emotion is blocking your good from coming to you, and that includes money."
Similar teachings are represented in movements like Christian Science and in the American gurus of success who have been around at least since the mid-nineteenth century. But Byrne seems to take the argument further than most. She suggests that you are God.
"You are God in a physical body," she writes. "You are spirit in the flesh. You are Eternal Life expressing itself as You. You are a cosmic being. You are all power. You are all wisdom. You are all intelligence. You are perfection. You are magnificence. You are the creator, and you are creating the creation of You on this planet."
It is almost impossible to read those words with a straight face. Is anyone believing this?
Jerry Adler, writing in Newsweek, makes this observation:
You'd think the last thing Americans need is more excuses for self-absorption and acquisitiveness. But our inexhaustible appetite for "affirmation" and "inspiration" and "motivation" has finally outstripped the combined efforts of Wayne Dyer, Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil and Mitch Albom. We have actually begun importing self-help--and from Australia, of all places, that citadel of tough-minded individualism, where just a couple of years ago Byrne was a divorced mother in her 50s who had hit a rocky patch in her business and personal lives. It was in that moment of despair, when she "wept and wept and wept" (as she recounted to Oprah on the first of two broadcasts devoted to her work), that she discovered a long-neglected book dating from 1910 called "The Science of Getting Rich." In it she found how to let your thoughts and feelings get you everything you want, and determined to share it with the world. She called it "The Secret."
And it was that stroke of marketing genius that turned what might have been a blip on the Times's "Advice, How-To, Miscellaneous" best-seller list into a publishing phenomenon that Sara Nelson, editor of Publishers Weekly, says "could become this decade's 'Tuesdays With Morrie'." "Nobody," she adds, "ever went broke overestimating the desperate unhappiness of the American public." Self-help books roll off the presses with the regularity of politicians' biographies, and sell much better; Wayne Dyer all by himself has written 29 of them with sales estimated at 50 million. But Byrne had something else going for her. "It was an incredibly savvy move to call it 'The Secret'," says Donavin Bennes, a buyer who specializes in metaphysics for Borders Books. "We all want to be in on a secret. But to present it as the secret, that was brilliant."
Donald S. Whitney, Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, gets to the heart of the problem with The Secret:
There's no mention of sin in The Secret. The cause of all the problems in the world and in our individual lives is merely bad thinking, specifically the failure to recognize and appropriately use the law of attraction. Therefore the solution to everything lies within us. And that, of course, eliminates the need for a Savior, a Substitute, or a Sacrifice. The cross and resurrection of Jesus become irrelevant.
More:
The problem with The Secret is that it focuses our hope selfward and not Godward. It is all about self-empowerment, self-fulfillment, and getting whatever we want. But Jesus warned, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). The Secret disregards the fact that God has a Law and we have broken it (James 2:10). What Byrne fails to realize about her law of attraction is that our sinful hearts deceive us (Jeremiah 17:9) and attract not only more sin and guilt, but ultimately, the wrath of God.
However, God in His mercy sent His Son to receive this wrath as a Substitute for all who will repent of their selfishness and believe in Him. And "through the true knowledge of Him"--not Rhonda Byrne's book--"His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).
"The Secret to everything" (to use Byrne's term) is God Himself. And God, the "Great Secret," has been revealed in Jesus Christ, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). God has freely told us in the Bible everything we need to know about discovering the unlimited "treasures of wisdom and knowledge" found in Christ. And He remains an unknown Secret only to those who will not look for Him there.
In the end, The Secret points to the most basic question of life. Is is all about us, or about the glory of God? The elevation of the self in The Secret is truly breathtaking:
The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist, without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who You Really Are. You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life. And now you know The Secret.

There is no real secret to The Secret. It is just the same old self-worship packaged for a new generation.