Last night, 5/22, I sat down to watch a movie (more of a documentary) with my family that I had never heard before: The Secret. See the Trailer.
I am going to offer my initial thoughts and reactions to it in several different blog postings, this being part 1. First let's take a look at an excerpt from the above Trailer:Trailer Excerpt:
"And now the great glimmering of truth can be revealed again.
You know this secret gives you everything you want: happiness, health, and wealth. You can have, do, or be ANYTHING you want.
I've seen many miracles take place in peoples' lives: Financial miracles, miracles of physical healing, mental healing, healing in relationships.
All of this happened because of knowing how to apply the secret"
This is perpetuated as the great secret of life. At first glance, it has similarities to what is referred to as…
"And now the great glimmering of truth can be revealed again.
You know this secret gives you everything you want: happiness, health, and wealth. You can have, do, or be ANYTHING you want.
I've seen many miracles take place in peoples' lives: Financial miracles, miracles of physical healing, mental healing, healing in relationships.
All of this happened because of knowing how to apply the secret"
This is perpetuated as the great secret of life. At first glance, it has similarities to what is referred to as…
'the prosperity gospel'
…seen many times by so called Televangelists. Some preachers that may come to mind include:
- The founders of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), Paul and Jan Crouch - who are never shy to ask for money: "even viewers who couldn't afford a $1,000 pledge should take a "step of faith" and make one anyway."
- among others
Now, I don't really follow the above ministries among others potentially labeled 'Prosperity Gospel Preachers and Ministries', but these types of ministries have been labeled by some as 'Believe with all your heart and soul, they tell the faithful. And give, give, give until you can't give any more. God, they say, loves a cheerful giver.' (online source).
Another component to this prosperity is that God wants us to be prosperous. Does God Want You To Be Rich (Time Magazine concerning Joel Olsteen). We will find that ‘The Secret’ has both similarities and differences to this ‘prosperity Gospel’. They may appear to be somewhat similar in practice, but the worldviews are fundamentally different (both of which I have problems with).
Another component to this prosperity is that God wants us to be prosperous. Does God Want You To Be Rich (Time Magazine concerning Joel Olsteen). We will find that ‘The Secret’ has both similarities and differences to this ‘prosperity Gospel’. They may appear to be somewhat similar in practice, but the worldviews are fundamentally different (both of which I have problems with).
As we dive into the details of what ‘The Secret’ is, I will uncover what I agree and disagree with, Part 2 and Part 3 respectively, from the notes I took on my cell phone during the video. I look forward to open dialogue and comments, welcomed to all.
Please see my related posts detailing my thoughts after watching 'The Secret' video:
Thoughts on 'The Secret' - Part 2: Things I agree with...
Thoughts on 'The Secret' - Part 3: Things I disagree with...
Thoughts on 'The Secret' - Part 4: Final comments 
Posts
5 comments:
Looking forward to the following parts
Hey, I'll have to try to read more about the book/movie/documentary to figure out what it really talks about. I am looking forward to what you have to say in the future. It's scary to think how many people buy into stuff like this and the "prosperity gospel" and whatnot. As was said earlier in person, it's got a little bit of truth to it (or so it seems) that the lies are easier to disguise. (Hopefully I didn't just steal a line to two from later posts!)
The best lies sound enough like truth to confuse the listener... or to allow the listener to deceive him-/herself. I have a friend who managed to convince herself that her abusive marriage was due to her "attracting" abusers - isn't this the same philosophy as churches that tell parishioners that they are only ill because they have insufficient faith? Making the victim's plight the victim's fault.
Hi and thanks for your comment.
That's too bad about your friend's abusive marriage. It's the all-to-familiar line of thought that can invade one's mind (particularly in your friend's situation): something is wrong with me and I must be the one to blame.
Indeed those two scenarios sound similar: the victim becoming the one that is accused by either themselves or another.
the Fat Lady: I'm really sorry about your friend. That's an awful situation for your friend to be in.
As far as the church convincing it's parishioners they don't have enough faith, that's another travesty, and a true, Bible-believing church would not say that. In fact, no where in the Bible does it say that following Jesus Christ will being you health, wealth and happiness. In fact, it promises the opposite!
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