Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert M. Price
Creator: Julia Sweeney
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 123327
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 370
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 1591026083
Dewey Decimal Number: 204
EAN: 9781591026082
ASIN: 1591026083
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
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Book Description
Foreword by Julia Sweeney America may be the land of plenty, but in the midst of our Walmarts, enormous supermarkets, and other signs of material surfeit, it seems that many are experiencing a gnawing spiritual hunger. New religions, spiritualities, and religious therapies attract throngs of believers to megachurches, Yoga classes, and the bestseller bookshelves. The latest popular fad in spirituality is Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, which promises both success and spiritual fulfillment, and is endorsed by no less than Oprah Winfrey. If you're trying to make sense of all the offerings in this confusing spiritual wonderland, Top Secret is just the book for you. Noted religion scholar Robert M. Price examines the historical roots and the current appeal of today's pop mysticisms. Critical and appreciative at the same time, Price applies his impressive background in theology and biblical criticism to put these trends in perspective. Among other popular movements and books, Price discusses: .Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
Rhonda Byrne's The Secret and New Thought
Helen Schucman's A Course in Miracles and the popular works of Marianne Williamson
Deepak Chopra's How to Know God
James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy
The Jewish Kabbalah, recently made popular by Madonna
Joel Osteen's Prosperity Gospel and his popular Your Best Life Now
Diedre Blomfield Brown (AKA Pema Choedroen) and American-style Buddhism Whether you're a skeptic looking for a rational approach to understanding current religion or a seeker in search of a deeper, more informed understanding of popular spiritualities, Top Secret has much to offer.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Author too attacking to be fair -- an "eh" review (sigh) July 27, 2008
3 out of 21 found this review helpful
Wow. I can't believe anyone would take this book seriously as a scholarly work. In my opinion, it's propaganda packaged as a scholarly work.
I approached the book with an open mind because I * don't * accept New Age teachings like "The Secret" at all. On the other hand, I've had my life profoundly changed by the teachings in A Course in Miracles and The Power of Now. I was naturally curious to see what the author had to say. I found I agreed with some of the things the author had to say, but there was an underlying mean-spiritedness to this book that dismayed me. This book is not a fair, even-handed exploration of New Age thought. The author clearly has an agenda of attack, not of intellectual curiosity and exploration. The author even makes a stunning assumption about Eckhart Tolle's love life after taking a Tolle quote out of context! He refers to A Course in Miracles as "A Course in Malarkey." .... Could you imagine the outcry in academia if a scholar referred to a Jewish or Muslim spiritual text in this manner?
The scary thing about this book is that if I wasn't familiar with a lot of the stuff he spoke about, I would be inclined to believe this "expert." (Well, maybe not. I've worked in law for 30 years and early on saw how easy it is to manipulate people into seeing what I wanted them to see by verbal attack & citation of "authorities" ... so I'm not so gullible anymore.)
I'm tired of religious hatred and attack, be it against "New Agers," Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. Thank goodness, I know that there is something beyond mankind's pettiness. I had been an avowed atheist prior to a series of spiritual experiences in 1986 changing my heart. I saw that much of our world and -- yes, even some of religion -- has nothing to do with Love.
Ask yourself what it is you are seeking before you read this book. If you are seeking a unbiased scholarly exploration, this ain't it. If attacking New Agers helps you to feel more secure with your own belief system, this will be right up your alley. However, in my experience, theologians and doctrine-lovers will never bring you closer to God/Truth. ("Be ye like a little child ....") And attacking your brothers and sisters' spiritual journey as unrighteous will not make you any more righteous. ("Judge not ...")
Two to three stars.
 The Secret of Top Secret June 2, 2008
2 out of 16 found this review helpful
I thought the book was very interesting. I thought I would agree with everything Dr. Price would write, but here I found I did not agree with his evaluation of all his points. That is okay. Most of his other books I enjoyed as well.
Excellent New Age Critique May 6, 2008
40 out of 40 found this review helpful
Most of you have seen popular spiritual books that top the best-seller lists, such as "The Secret," "How to Know God," "The Power of Now," and others. Unfortunately, there really isn't an effective guide that examines these books for the uninformed reader, until now. Biblical scholar Robert M. Price examines today's popular spiritualities critically and sympathetically. Of course, he is more sympathetic to some than to others. The books/spiritualities Price looks at are:
* Rhonday Byrne's "The Secret." Oprah devoted several shows to this book. Basically, Byrne's work is an outgrowth of the "New Thought" movement, which asserts that there is an invisible force in the universe which people can manipulate and use to their advantage. Byrne uses a distorted version of quantum physics to back this up. So if you believe you will find a job, right now, then it will happen. Price agrees that the attitude one takes can influence the outcomes in one's life, but he finds the metaphyiscs behind "The Secret" to be just silly.
* Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now"- Price generally likes Tolle's work, which has its roots in the Zen idea of believing that the conscious self is an illusion. Tolle believes that one should neither have anxiety about the present nor the future, but focus on the present moment. Although Price thinks that Tolle has some eccentric ideas, he generally believes that his work contains great wisdom.
* The work of Pema Choedroen- Price discusses the work of this contemporary Buddhist guru, to which he is generally sympathetic. He goes into a lengthy discussion about her variety of Buddhism, and other varieties of it; you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know!
* Deepak Chopra's "How to Know God"- Chopra does not come off well in Price's analysis. Chopra's "God" is part of the quantum world, which one can use to do such things as end aging and achieve success. Price takes Chopra to task for what he sees as a "blame the victim" approach- if one can't end aging or achieve success, then that person doesn't have enough faith.
* Helen Schucman's "A Course in Miracles"- Price is very hard on this cornerstone of the New-Age movement. He doesn't even think it has much literary value. Price shows the absurdity of claiming that "Course" was divinely dictated to the author, despite the human character being very evident.
* Marianne Williamson's "A Return to Love"- Essentially, Williamson explains "A Course in Miracles" better than the original author did. Price says that Williamson is advocating a selfless love which does not allow for any kind of boundaries; if you dislike something someone did, then you must change your own perception of the other person. This, Price says, is unworkable on a large scale.
Neale Donald Walsh's "Conversations With God"- This is also a key book in the New-Age movement. Price criticizes Walsh's double-standard of him believing that the bible should not be considered a revealed text, but that his book should.
Joel Osteen's "Your Best Life Now"- Osteen is an advocate of a prosperity-style gospel, which Price strongly criticizes. Osteen's theology is a variant of New Thought. According to Price, if you believe that God wants you to get a particular job, then you will. And what if you don't get the job? You just didn't have enough faith!
Price also includes an appendix on how to spot a dangerous cult. I found "Top Secret" to be well-written, witty, and informative, and I believe readers wanting a guide to the "pop mysticisms" will too.
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