I totally agree with philiprohler. We as human beings have a tendency to base our lives more on what we think, feel, the situations and circumstances that surround us than on what is really true. We have a tendency to be overboard in one area above the rest. God has promised very great things in the Word (that are truly beyond human comprehension - try feeding a whole nation on Manna and Quail for 40 years!) but also has never denied the pain and sufferings of life due to sin in the world that has caused us to become broken fallen people.

I always ask believers and unbelievers every where I am to look at the Word of God as if it were Him talking to us and not us trying to interpret His Words in our finite minds. This book called The Secret is just another book dealing with certain aspects/concepts that maybe in the Word of God but not the whole counsel of God. There lies the balance - go back & check what God has to say about the matter.

When I first saw "The Secret," I agreed with the precepts, because doesn't Jesus say to us himself that If we say for the Mountains to be moved, it shall be done? I think as Christians we sometimes don't have enough faith that God, through US allows all of our dreams to come true. I do not agree that there is a "Big Genie" of the Universe...they were sincerely missing something there...GOD is the only power. Also, doesn't the good book say that we are made in his likeness and created in his image? He created US to create GOOD here on the Earth and all for his glory...I think we DO create the bad because of our thought patterns and we DO create good because of our thought patterns...but we need to give credit where credit is due...the glory of God only allows us this privilege. All things are created by God and for God...THAT is where people are mistaken, is when they think it is THEMSELVES, but it is God who created us, and allows us to create using his power through us.

Looking at the practical implications. A Christian friend of mine recently purchased the book and the shortly afterwards received a very handsome windfall. I mean very handsome.

The question that this then poses is : Is it due to the thought pattern introduced by "The secret" or do you thank God? This is where the crux lies for me. Is it our own doing or do we give God the glory?

ONorton is correct about The Secret and about Jesus's teaching. Jesus's teaching is balanced, The Secret's teaching is not; however, it is not far from the imbalance presented by many "prosperity" theologians.

We need a fresh look at the whole counsel of God, not simply an Evangelical perspective. (I, too, am an Evangelical, but one who understands and experiences God outside of the box[es] that each generation creates for God.)

My criticism of the article is the way Mark Earley quotes words and phrases from The Secret that, taken out of context, seem to support his point of view.

Jesus said that he came to give abundant life. There are adequate resources in the world God created to meet the needs of everyone on the planet. The weakness of The Secret is not that the author develops that theme; the weakness is that she does not adequately take into account the reality of fallen humankind. Jesus does adequately account for that reality.

I also think this "Secret" is dangerous, but I have a different take on it.

I believe the "Secret" is true - it is a "God-ism", in that it is one of the truths of God. Jesus said, "ask and you shall receive...". But Jesus also warned against gaining the whole world and losing your soul in the process.

It seems as if Jesus knew of the so-called "law of attraction" that the "Secret" details. He knew it as one of the Truths of God, but also knew that if it is used outside of God's other laws (love your neighbor, etc), it would lead to the destruction of the soul.

Looks like lots of commentators see "The Secret" for what it is, and are willing to speak out about it. But has anyone taken on The Great and Powerful Oz . . . whoops, I mean The Great Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah has devoted an entire hour of her talk show to "The Secret", twice, and is probably the main reason the book is a bestseller.

And she is different from Joel Osteen and other evangelicals how?