My 9yo daughter and I read Chapter 76 of Our Island Story today. The Chapter talks about King James, successor to Queen Elizabeth, who wanted to be a despot and claimed ‘The King can do no wrong. What he does must be right and the people must obey and ask no questions.’
Portrait of James by Paul van Somer, c. 1620.
When he died, he was succeeded by his son Charles who had been taught by his father to believe the same, that the King could do no wrong.
At this my daughter said, “That’s just like Mr. s0-and-so, he said Caleb (his son) had no sin.”
She was talking about an old neighbor of ours who was big on the idea of “The Secret” and the “Law of Attraction”, greatly publicized by Oprah. It taught that whatever you can imagine, you can achieve by sending out positive thoughts and feelings into the universe.
She had seen Caleb many times throw fits, hit, lie, etc., yet in his Father’s mind, he was sinless and was being taught as much. And this parent was not unlearned by any means, he had been to seminary and was raised in the Christian faith.
Is it a secret really, or an age-old story; one even a little girl can clearly see in the pages of her History books?
…because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools … who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. ~Romans 1:21-22, 25
There is a great book review that gives some much needed perspective on The Secret for anyone interested: http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/book-review-the-secret