Do You Know the Real Secret?

Could you be affected by a popular but deceptive New Age teaching? What's at the heart of The Secret and The Law of Attraction? Does the Bible offer any insight and guidance?

by Howard Davis

"Have you heard The Secret? It is the most important secret for human beings to hear. It holds the keys to human success and understanding why you are here. It is the secret of the most powerful force in the universe. It is the basis for what has been, what is and what will be."

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Statements like these from the "law of attraction" marketing campaign are exploding through American and global media. In only a few months it has already become a hugely successful effort, selling millions of tapes, books and DVDs.

It's a promoter's dream come true. Almost out of nowhere, the strange and powerfully seductive teachings of the DVD movie and book The Secret, and the book The Law of Attraction (promoted by psychics Esther and Jerry Hicks), are appearing everywhere. They've been seen worldwide on Oprah Winfrey's hugely popular TV talk show and on Larry King's CNN show. They've been featured in a myriad of other TV and radio programs, and in magazines and newspapers.

Many millions have been swayed by the seductive philosophy that you will achieve wealth, greatness or health simply by wishing it so.

That's right. All the hype is based on the teaching that there is a secret basic law in the universe that says you can have anything you want by wanting it badly enough. Through total and focused desire on what you want, you will automatically attract it to you. That's the law of attraction, the secret that is "the greatest power in the universe."

Demons in Hollywood's Garden of Eden

Advocates claim that the law of attraction has the absolute scientific validity of any physical law, as real and unchangeable as gravity. "These Laws are absolute, they are Eternal, and they are omnipresent (or everywhere)" (Esther and Jerry Hicks, The Law of Attraction, 2006, p. 20).

Oprah Winfrey said on her program that she has always believed and practiced The Secret. But only in the fantasy world of Hollywood-influenced media can this old New Age idea be taken as scientific truth—that your personal thoughts, positive or negative, are the ultimate reality behind the universe.

Real life has never worked that way and never will. In religious terms, self-absorption with money and power is all about loving self above God or neighbor. This psychology is directly contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the law of God (Matthew 22:37-39; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18) and, in fact, is a never-ending source of evil.

Single-minded pursuit of one's selfish desires leads a person to damaging outcomes—distorted values, antisocial behavior, self-will, arrogance and often isolation, loneliness and self-destruction. These destructive values lie at the core of the dangerous "law of attraction" fad.

Medical science finds the claims of the movement ridiculous. Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist who operates Quackwatch.com, a Web site devoted to exposing quackery and health fraud, says: "There is no evidence that thinking can modify disease other than occasional relaxation exercises. Thoughts have nothing to do with physics. They are talking about a concept of energy that cannot be measured.

"The energy involved in physics can be measured in a number of different ways," Dr. Barrett notes. "There is nothing real about what they are talking about. They are talking about imaginary energy. The idea of a secret remedy is a classic quack claim."

This is not merely harmless quackery, however. The impacts of The Secret on mental health can be seriously damaging.

It can foster abnormal and obsessive thinking. These can generate destructive emotional responses as life inevitably has its sustained trials and drawbacks. Taken to its logical conclusions, a person can develop a profound disconnect with reality.

The most prominent book in this marketing blitz, The Law of Attraction, explains that every negative experience, accident, mishap and influence in a person's world are the product of his own thinking.

"Nothing merely shows up in your experience. You attract it—all of it. No exceptions . . . We must still explain that only you could have caused it, for no one else has the power to attract what comes to you but you. By focusing upon this unwanted thing, or the essence of it, you have created it by default" (p. 30).

Where do you think this most unscientific—some would say crazy—idea came from? Esther and Jerry Hicks, the authors of The Law of Attraction, have convinced their believers that their ideas came from a cluster of supernatural spirits collectively calling themselves "Abraham."

The Hicks claim these spirits communicated the law of attraction to them through channeling—an abnormal or alternate state of mind by which some communicate with evil spirits. (This practice, incidentally, is condemned in the Bible in the strongest terms—see Deuteronomy 18:10-12 and Leviticus 20:27.)

In The Law of Attraction, these spirits have done a job worthy of the devil's deceptions in the Garden of Eden.

Jews caused their own Holocaust and blacks their own slavery?

Let's consider the claim that your thoughts cause all the good and all the evil in your life. If this idea is wrong even once, the entire idea unravels. It would show the law of attraction to be nothing more than a dangerous falsehood that lays the foundation to rationalize, and even justify, evil.

Consider. Following the logic of this idea, 6 million Jews would have brought extermination on themselves in the Holocaust because they attracted their own annihilation by their negative thoughts.

According to this idea, a four-year-old rape victim attracted lifelong trauma through wrong thinking.

According to this idea, the hospital patient given HIV-contaminated blood attracted AIDS by bad thoughts.

By the law of attraction, these people are the ultimate evildoers because they caused their own suffering through negative thoughts—even if they didn't consciously think they had them.

In reality, all of these situations are not caused by negative thinking, but by external evil or chance events unrelated to the thinking of the victim.

If you apply this mode of analyzing human experience to history, you come to more ludicrous conclusions. The Romans must have thought better thoughts than all the nations they brutally murdered, pillaged and enslaved. For centuries each of the millions of black slaves must have deserved their bondage because of their negative thoughts. Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. must have deserved to be assassinated and the American colonists must have deserved "taxation without representation" because of their negative thinking.

The Secret turns social justice into an absurdity. Worse, the law of attraction reverses many of the great spiritual truths of the Bible: Abel deserved to be murdered by Cain for his bad thoughts; the Israelites deserved to be subject to slavery and the genocide of their newborn sons in Pharaoh's Egypt; Jesus deserved His own crucifixion and His followers deserved to be murdered for believing in God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

This is an abuser's thinking, and it is evil. By this doctrine, the victims of evil and abuse are the cause of their own abuse. The logic is that if you are victimized, brutalized or oppressed, it's your fault, not the oppressors. Two thousand years of the development of human rights are reversed by the perverse logic of the law of attraction. There is no need for legal protections against evil because evil is destined for those who end up suffering from it.

This thinking is unbalanced and narcissistic. Taken to extremes, it can be symptomatic of personality disorders if believers treat others by the logic flowing from the false premise.

It's astonishing that so many leading figures in mass media are unable to discern the distortions of reality, even the dangers to mental health, lying at the heart of this bizarre doctrine that more and more resembles a cult religion.

Imagine what happens when believers in this idea begin to have negative things happen in their lives—as we all do. Will they open themselves up to enormously neurotic and abnormal perceptions about their own thinking, saying to themselves that they are not positive enough? This process can lead to a legion of psychological and mental disorders as the individuals disconnect life's real experiences of ups and downs from objective thinking.

The ultimate bottom line in the movement is that all people should open themselves up to occult experiences like Esther and Jerry Hicks. This is a serious threat to the mental health of people.

Mainstreaming the occult

Practitioners of the New Age occult, such as Esther and Jerry Hicks and other channelers, deliberately suspend the critical thinking and judging capacity of the brain and empty their minds into a receptive trance. These psychics knowingly open themselves up to be used as mouthpieces by spirits.

Jerry Hicks said he and his wife learned to channel after being convinced of the existence of supernatural spirits through Ouija board messages.

Your Bible, however, says that such "familiar spirits" who speak through psychics are demons—fallen spirits who lie. The Bible also calls the person who channels them a witch or medium. During the Old Testament period, such a person who knowingly consorted with evil spirits was condemned to death.

The spirits calling themselves "Abraham"—actually a group of demons—want your mind to immediately absorb the point of view they express. Here is what "Abraham" says to the reader:

"It is always an interesting experience to explain to our physical friends those things that are of a Non-Physical nature, because everything that we offer to you must then be translated through the lens of your physical world. In other words, Esther receives our thoughts, like radio signals, at an unconscious level of her Being, and then translates them into physical words and concepts" (The Law of Attraction, p. 19).

The analogy of radio signals reminds many Bible students of Ephesians 2:2 where Satan is called "the prince of the power of the air." His influence goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden where the serpent told Eve, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5).

She was attracted to the fruit, seduced by the original version of the demonic law of attraction. There is a twisted logic at the foundation of the law of attraction. It is contrary to actual human experience and directly contradicts the statements of God, Jesus Christ, the prophets and the apostles in the Bible.

To believe the doctrines of the demons who "revealed" the law of attraction, you have to start by leaving your brain at the door, much as Eve did as she conversed with the serpent. It was a counterfeit and a lie. Adam and Eve did die. And so do all who sin—all of us. There is only one solution, one way out of death, and that remains a mystery to the world at large even after Jesus Christ proclaimed it.

The real secret—the mystery of the Kingdom

Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ brought His announcement of the Kingdom of God, creating a sensation with His ministry.

"Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14-15).

With spectacular miracles, He turned water to wine, fed thousands with only a few fish and loaves of bread, healed many of tragic illnesses, raised Lazarus from the dead and proclaimed that a new realm of existence is coming for humanity. If anyone in history has shown the way for people to have eternal life, it is Jesus Christ.

But He promised that the way to the Kingdom of God would be a secret, a mystery except to His disciples—and they would be very few.

He told His disciples: "It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given . . . Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand" (Matthew 13:11, 13).

He also said there would be many counterfeits, including religious teachers claiming to act in His name.

The basic premise of The Secret and The Law of Attraction is that you already have eternal life and will have everything you desire in this life without a need for conversion or obedience to the law of God. This constitutes a counterfeit religion and faith directly contradicting biblical truth.

Jesus Christ defined the thoughts and behavior necessary to enter the Kingdom of God and taught His disciples that there are distinct differences between good and evil, negating the premise of The Secret.

He condemned materialism, saying, "You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). He said following Him is the only way to eternal life (John 11:25). Furthermore, He said of the dos and don'ts of the Bible, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17).

Jesus did not say you can have anything you want if you want it badly enough since you are ultimately your own god. He did not say man automatically has eternal life.

Furthermore, the teachings and example of Jesus Christ provide the greatest possible repudiation of every idea of the law of attraction. He continuously taught against evil. He labeled evil what it was—the rotten fruit of the ways of Satan, a liar and murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

Jesus said that we should seek first God's Kingdom and His righteous way of living and that all of our needs will then be ultimately taken care of (Matthew 6:33).

There is a reason "wishful thinking" means a focus on how we want things to be that is unrealistic. Don't be caught up in false hopes and spiritually perverted solutions that lead down hopeless paths. Serve the living and all-powerful God. Pray to Him in faith and live your life according to His will. Then He will ultimately fulfill your needs and desires—beyond your wildest wishes and imaginings. GN

Recommended Reading

Would you like to understand the real secret of God's plan and the One who makes it possible for you to have eternal life, Jesus Christ? Who was He, really? What did He teach? Why did the crowds both love Him and hate Him? What was His mission? Why did He have to die? Will He come again and, if so, why? You need to understand the answers! Request or download your free copy of Jesus Christ: The Real Story.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

21 posted on 06/10/2007 10:13:18 AM PDT by Vision ("Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him." Jeremiah 17:7)

22 posted on 06/10/2007 10:16:52 AM PDT by EternalVigilance

My girlfriend who just successfully had a 3 organs transplant (pancreas + 2 kidneys) believes in this stuff. She read the book when it came out and then she had the surgery. She is convinced her good thoughts helped with the success of her surgery. Oddly enough, she never considered the prayers from her friends and family but I was able to send her the link you had. She just called me, she wants me to take her to my church. So thank you for that!

23 posted on 06/10/2007 10:20:18 AM PDT by rxgalfl

In word studies of PISTIS, faith, we find there is faith associated with our mind, our logic, our thinking inwardly, our ability to recall, our outward expression of our thoughts, with our heart, with Bible doctrine, and all of it is provided to us by God.

By remaining in belief of Him through faith in Christ, He is free to bless us in how He has planned in eternity past and at any moment per His will.

Just as He has created man originally perfect through the creation of Adam, in body, soul and spirit, and cares for the welfare of every small bird, so too and even moreso does He care for us.

There are also, though, other creatures, with volition, who might attempt to counterfeit His provision by their own volition independent of Him, in rebellion to His will. Accordingly, just because some might experience success without faith in Him, doesn’t mean eternal paradise has been successfully counterfeited. Likewise, the suffering or misery of believers remaining in faith through Him in physical, soulish or spiritual domains doesn’t mean the Adversary has succeeded in conquering His will. On the contrary, while the problem of sin has been resolved on the Cross for all eternity, the issues of good and evil must be resolved in time.

Those who remain faithful through Him have eternal rewards created in eternity past awaiting us at the bema seat, and He is still free to bless us as He knows best in His plan.

The gnostics may have identified the existence of spiritual phenomenon, but failed to realize that through faith in Christ, all things are possible and for divine good, rather than mere human good. The gnostics also failed in believing only the spirit or maybe some aspects of the soul were worthy of eternal good, but failed to realize that even the physical domain was created by God and not evil when lived within per His plan by faith through Him.

If we are in faith through Christ and find it good for the mountain to be moved and seek for it to be moved through His will, then the movement of the mountain by Him with us as His agents may still be divinely good. Those who seek to move the mountain through faith, independent of Him, might observe counterfeit results, but will not prevail in the final analysis of what works are indeed good in His perspective.

24 posted on 06/10/2007 11:01:56 AM PDT by Cvengr (The violence of evil is met with the violence of righteousness, justice, love and grace.)

That's wonderful news. Anything that takes one on the journey to truth is a good thing.

25 posted on 06/10/2007 11:34:47 AM PDT by DouglasKC

But He promised that the way to the Kingdom of God would be a secret, a mystery except to His disciples—and they would be very few.

Say what?

Mark 10:17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" 18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' " 20 And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"

That's a pretty straightforward teaching -- without parable.

Good News Magazine hardly has the corner on 'REAL' secrets.

26 posted on 06/10/2007 12:41:21 PM PDT by DaveMSmith ("Heaven is the only basis for our continued existence".)

But He promised that the way to the Kingdom of God would be a secret, a mystery except to His disciples—and they would be very few.
Say what?

I think you need to show the rest of the quote. When Jesus was on earth relatively few were able to understand the parables he used:

But He promised that the way to the Kingdom of God would be a secret, a mystery except to His disciples—and they would be very few.
He told His disciples: "It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given . . . Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand" (Matthew 13:11, 13).

Only by having the spirit can you know exactly HOW to get to the kingdom of heaven:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned

As for your example, yes, keeping the commandments CAN bring eternal life. But we can't keep the commandments perfectly, physically or spiritually. However, when the spirit of Christ dwells in us, can stop doing our own will and let the spirit of Christ live in and through us. This spirit WILL keep the commandments of God insofar as we let it.

27 posted on 06/10/2007 5:28:21 PM PDT by DouglasKC

I read Matt 13:11 and replace 'of' with 'about'. The Lord is speaking about how Heaven is organized, angels, uses, correspondences, etc. He spoke in parables so those internal things would not be profaned.

The Lord's speech is Divine -- it had meaning to all that believe in Him. Then as now.

The whole of the NT deals with salvation, repentance, how to love the Lord and the neighbor to lead a good life according to one's religion. That's what leads to Heaven.

You quoted Corinthians. Look at the beginning of the next chapter...

3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?

Paul is challanging those to raise their mind to the spiritual, which really anyone can do who is sincere about his faith.

28 posted on 06/10/2007 7:39:34 PM PDT by DaveMSmith ("Heaven is the only basis for our continued existence".)

That doesn't fit with what's written:

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

That seems relatively clear.

The parable of the marriage supper ends with:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen

Paul was addressing Christians. Those who had repented of their sins and had accepted the indwelling of the holy spirit. Granted they struggled with carnality, as all Christians do, but part of the purpose of the church is to help other overcome, which is what Paul was attempting to do here.

Scripture is abundantly clear that one does need the spirit of God to understand the things of God.

1Jo 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

But as the article points out, there are also many decievers gone out into the world, many of whom call themselves Christians:

2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

29 posted on 06/10/2007 8:02:47 PM PDT by DouglasKC

He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and are converted and I heal them. John 12:40.

As for the 'Seven Truths' from the article, #1 is a tad off compared to Luke:

Being demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them, and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20-21).

The Lord loves all and wishes salvation for all...

Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)

30 posted on 06/10/2007 9:10:57 PM PDT by DaveMSmith ("Heaven is the only basis for our continued existence".)

As for the 'Seven Truths' from the article, #1 is a tad off compared to Luke:
Being demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them, and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20-21).

Taken out of context and without scriptures that show to the contrary, this is a common explanation of this scripture.

However, if you think about this, it doesn't make much sense. Jesus is saying this to the Pharisee's. But he also said:

Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Hypocrisy and lawlessness were within the Pharisee's, not the kingdom of God.

An explanation that makes more sense is that the word translated "within" can just as easily be translated "among" or "in the midst of". Several translations render it this way:

(Bible in Basic English) And men will not say, See, it is here! or, There! for the kingdom of God is among you

(Contemporary English Version) There is no use saying, 'Look! Here it is' or 'Look! There it is.' God's kingdom is here with you."

(Darby) nor shall they say, Lo here, or, Lo there; for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

(EMTV) neither will they say, 'Look here!' or 'Look, there it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is among you."

(ESV) nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

(ISV) People won't say, 'Look! Here it is!' or "There it is!' For the kingdom of God is among you."

(MKJV) Nor shall they say, Lo here! or, behold, there! For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.

What Jesus was likely telling them was that he, as the Christ, represented the kingdom of God. You can't have access to the Kingdom of God unless you go through Christ. So Christ was standing right in their midst and they couldn't even observe it.

The Lord loves all and wishes salvation for all... Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)

I agree with this. But it isn't a free ticket to salvation. Other scriptures make clear that obedience is a clear requirement:

Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

31 posted on 06/17/2007 12:26:31 PM PDT by DouglasKC

Do you believe we have eternal souls within us?

In John 14:23, 'keep' means 'obey'.

32 posted on 06/17/2007 7:43:46 PM PDT by DaveMSmith ("Heaven is the only basis for our continued existence".)

Do you believe we have eternal souls within us? In John 14:23, 'keep' means 'obey'.

I don't. The doctrine of the immortal soul is unbiblical. Eternal life is a gift of God:

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Man doesn't have eternal life. We were created mortal, out of elemental substances:

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

We return to dust when we die.

33 posted on 06/18/2007 5:17:11 PM PDT by DouglasKC

How did John see the visions in Revelation if not from within? And all of the prophets? The dreams of Jacob and Joseph?

Unbiblical?

34 posted on 06/18/2007 5:28:26 PM PDT by DaveMSmith ("Heaven is the only basis for our continued existence".)

How did John see the visions in Revelation if not from within? And all of the prophets? The dreams of Jacob and Joseph?

One doesn't have to have an immortal soul to see visions. Plainly those who saw visions weren't impeded by this. :-)

Unbiblical?

Unbiblical. Scripture after scripture affirms that the fate of man is death:

Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We don't already have eternal life, an immortal soul. Everlasting life is a gift of God.

Perish = apollumi - From G575 and the base of G3639; to destroy fully (reflexively to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively: - destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.

35 posted on 06/18/2007 6:39:45 PM PDT by DouglasKC

What about hell? Jesus spoke more about that than he spoke of heaven.

36 posted on 10/24/2007 7:26:27 AM PDT by Library Lady

To: Library Lady

What about hell? Jesus spoke more about that than he spoke of heaven.

Biblical. But the word "hell" was used in the new testament of the King James version of the bible for three different greek words.

I'm going to cut and paste from this article to show the three words:

Greek words translated 'hell'

The counterpart of sheol in the Greek language is hades, which also refers to the grave. In the four New Testament verses that quote Old Testament passages containing sheol, hades is used for sheol (Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15; Acts 2:27, 31). As with sheol, hades is rendered as "the grave" or "death" or left untranslated as Hades in recent Bible versions.

Hades likewise does not refer to a place of fiery torment. Indeed, the apostle Peter refers to Christ Himself as having been in "Hades" (Acts 2:27, 31) or "hell" (King James Version), referring to the time He was entombed before His resurrection. Both words simply refer to the grave.

A second Greek word, tartaroo, is also translated "hell" in the New Testament. This word is used only once in the Bible (2 Peter 2:4), where it refers to the place where the fallen angels, or demons, are restrained awaiting their judgment. The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words explains that tartaroo means "to confine in Tartaros" and that "Tartaros was the Greek name for the mythological abyss in which rebellious gods were confined" (p. 337). Peter used this reference to contemporary mythology to show that the sinning angels were "delivered . . . into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment." These fallen angels are in a condition or place of restraint awaiting their ultimate judgment for their rebellion against God and destructive influence on humanity.

Tartaros applies only to demons. Nowhere does tartaroo refer to a fiery hell in which people are punished after death.

It is only with the remaining word translated "hell"-the Greek word gehenna-that we see some elements people commonly associate with the traditional view of hell. However, this word also has significant differences from the popular concept of hell.

Gehenna "is derived from the Hebr[ew] expression, ga-Hinnom, Valley of Hinnom . . . Religiously it was a place of idolatrous and human sacrifices . . . In order to put an end to these abominations, Josiah polluted it with human bones and other corruptions (2 Kgs. 23:10, 13, 14)" (Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, 1992, p. 360).

Thanks in large part to its evil reputation, this valley bordering Jerusalem came to be used as the city garbage dump. Trash was burned there, along with the bodies of dead animals and criminals. Fires day and night consumed the refuse.

Inferno to destroy the wicked

Gehenna is used 12 times in the Bible, with 11 of those recording Christ's words. When Jesus spoke of gehenna, His listeners knew that this "hell" was a consuming fire in which garbage and the bodies of the wicked were destroyed. He bluntly warned that this destroying fire would be the fate of the incorrigibly wicked (Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 23:15, 33; Luke 12:5).

But when would this take place? Many of those who opposed Christ were among the religious and civil leadership of His day; they weren't treated as criminals, with their bodies burned in the city dump. Christ knew that their ultimate judgment, along with that of the overwhelming majority of humanity throughout history, would be far in the future (as made clear throughout this booklet).

After being resurrected, those who are shown God's way but still refuse to repent will face gehenna fire, an all-consuming inferno that will completely destroy them and all memory of them, with no hope of further resurrection (Matthew 10:28).

The book of Revelation calls this inferno "the lake of fire" (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14-15). In the time frame revealed in the Bible, this follows 1,000 years of Christ's reign on earth (Revelation 20:1-6) and a resurrection to physical life of all those who have never known God and His ways (verses 5, 11-13). Those resurrected at that time will have the opportunity to learn God's ways, repent and receive His gift of eternal life.

Some, however, will refuse that gift. The Bible records their tragic epitaph: "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (verse 15).

Those who willingly choose to reject God's way will not be allowed to continue living in the misery their choice will bring. They will die, not suffer forever. They will be consumed in this fire, leaving nothing but ashes (Malachi 4:1-3). An examination of all the words translated "hell" shows that the traditional view of an ever-burning place of torment where the wicked are punished for eternity cannot be found in the Bible.

Hope it helps...

37 posted on 10/24/2007 2:22:09 PM PDT by DouglasKC

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Do You Know the Real Secret?

Could you be affected by a popular but deceptive New Age teaching? What's at the heart of The Secret and The Law of Attraction? Does the Bible offer any insight and guidance?

by Howard Davis

Beware The Law of Attraction's False Premises and Twisted Logic

Seven Truths From Jesus Christ About the Real Secret: The Kingdom of God