The Secret and Christian Theology

-

 


What happened to the author of The Secret?

Twenty years after the book The Secret made her wealthy beyond imagination, Melbourne’s Rhonda Byrne breaks twenty years of silence with her controversial new wealth guide. 

But what was the secret all about? Does the Bible support this? Is this New Age teaching?  Today, I want to compare the contents of the secret with theology. This is not a personal attack or vilification. This essay is a comparison of contents.


The Secret and Christian Theology -Comparison & Critique

1. View of Reality

The Secret:

  • Reality is governed by an impersonal Law of Attraction.

  • The universe responds mechanically to thoughts and emotions.

Christian Theology:

  • Reality is governed by a personal, sovereign God (Ps 115:3; Dan 4:35).

  • God acts according to wisdom, love, justice, and redemptive purpose—not human mental states.

Key Difference: Impersonal force vs. personal God.

2. Source of Power

The Secret:

  • Power lies within the individual mind.

  • Thoughts create outcomes.

Christian Theology:

  • Power belongs to God alone (Zech 4:6; Acts 1:8).

  • Humans depend on grace, not mental control.

Theological Concern: The Secret subtly relocates divine power from God to the self.

3. Prayer vs. Manifestation

The Secret:

  • “Ask” is a technique to trigger a universal response.

  • Gratitude is used to accelerate results.

Christian Prayer:

  • Prayer is relational, not mechanical (Matt 6:9–10).

  • Requests are submitted to God’s will, not guaranteed outcomes (1 John 5:14).

Contrast: Manipulation of outcomes vs. trustful surrender.

4. Suffering and Evil

The Secret:

  • Negative experiences result from negative thinking.

  • Suffering is largely self-generated.

Christian Theology:

  • Suffering exists due to sin, brokenness, and spiritual conflict (Rom 8:18–23).

  • The righteous may suffer unjustly (Job, Jesus, Paul).

Pastoral Danger: Victim-blaming replaces compassion.

5. Wealth, Health, and Success

The Secret:

  • Prosperity is a sign of correct thinking.

  • Scarcity reflects mental failure.

Christian Theology:

  • Wealth is morally neutral and spiritually dangerous if idolized (Matt 6:19–24).

  • God often works through weakness and lack (2 Cor 12:9).

Key Issue: The Secret mirrors prosperity theology without God.

6. Anthropology (View of the Human Person)

The Secret:

  • Humans are creators of reality.

  • The self is sovereign.

Christian Theology:

  • Humans are created, fallen, and redeemed beings.

  • True transformation comes through repentance and renewal by the Spirit (Rom 12:1–2).

Core Conflict: Self-deification vs. humility before God.

7. Ethics and Responsibility

The Secret:

  • The secret lies in its emphasis on personal outcomes.

  • Minimal concern for justice, sacrifice, or the suffering of others.

Christian Ethics:

  • Emphasizes love of neighbour, justice, self-giving, and truth (Micah 6:8; Phil 2:5–11).

Result: Individual success vs. communal faithfulness.

Theological Summary Judgment

From a Christian perspective, The Secret:

  • Repackages New Thought spirituality

  • Displaces God with the self

  • Confuses hope with control

  • Turns gratitude into a technique rather than worship


While practices like gratitude and intentional thinking can be psychologically helpful, the book’s worldview is theologically incompatible with historic Christian faith.

One-Sentence Summary

The Secret promises control through thought; the gospel offers hope through surrender.


Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. Th...
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness....
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, bu...
Read more