Many people in our society simply cast aside such a comparison as non-sense, mainly because The Secret, authored by Rhonda Byrne, is a first place New York Times best seller (on the list for 25 weeks now!), at one point selling around 4 times the amount of the second place best seller. Let’s start by talking about how they are not related: one is blatantly calling itself Satanism (the religion of self as they proclaim) and the other is packaging itself in a much cleaner fashion, in the form of love and tranquility. One is abrasive, the other is seemingly harmonious. In my estimation, The Secret will do far more damage to our society than blatant Satanism. But how does the “theology” of The Secret differ from that of Satanism? Well it doesn’t really when you get down to what each “religion” is saying. Quote from Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, from their website:
“Since Satanism is essentially a religion of the self, it holds that the individual and his personal needs comes first … Satanism is the only religion which serves to encourage and enhance one’s individual preferences, so long as there is admission of those needs. Thus, one’s personal and indelible religion (the picture) is integrated into a perfect frame. It’s a celebration of individuality without hypocrisy, of solidarity without mindlessness, of objective subjectivity.” – Taken from http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/MostPower.html (WARNING – be careful on this site, a few bad pictures and a few bad links, I would say just stick to that one page and that will be enough to give you the overview).
Well unfortunately, Satanism is not the only religion which holds to this kind of thinking.
In comparison, here are some audio sound bites from Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret (just hover over the links below to play them in the window that pops up):
The Magnificence of You (MP3)
The Sun Rises for You (MP3)
You Are the Creator (MP3) < This one just amazes me
This teaching is blatantly Satanic. How? Just rewind to the Garden of Eden. Satan told Eve, “You will be like God.” (Gen 3:5) What is the fundamental difference between these two “religions”? None. It is all about self. Satan fell from heaven because of his assertion that he was God and could conquer Him. Is The Secret any different? The church must embrace the Biblical Gospel and cast aside anything that would come into our churches that is not only non-Christian but anti-Christian, like The Secret. According to Al Mohler, from this radio program (mp3) he did back in March, ladies watching Oprah (also this) are bringing this filth into Bible studies! Unbelievable. This is why we must preach a clear Gospel and Biblical doctrine from Scripture. People in our Christian culture are so unfamiliar with their own belief system they cannot even recognize something as blatantly Satanic as The Secret.
“A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within.”
– Will Durant
The Goal of God’s Love May Not Be What You Think It Is – John Piper
Rashmi
Thank you so much for this article!!! There isn’t much online, or at least not that I found, connecting rhonda byrne to satanism. You will find out soon how the Holy Spirit used your article to help me.
David Westerfield
Thanks!
Wendy
Thank you for the insight.
A “Christian” friend of mine showed me this book about 10 years ago. It was given to him by his “pastor”. He was so secretive about the book and didnt want me to see it, so I had a strange aversion for it. I didn’t even bother reading it.
Thank you for proving me right. Chritiandom is being so polluted by occultic/satanuc materials and it is so sad due to the ignorance of the Church.
I pray our wyes are illumined.