How old is the Law of Attraction? Was it taught by Jesus? Has the church kept it hidden?

There are 10.4 million sites on the internet devoted to the Law of Attraction and 168 million sites devoted to the topic of Jesus. Is there any relationship between these two phenomena? In the book and movie, “The Secret” it is claimed that the Law of Attraction has been kept secret for millennia. Is this true ?

The answer to that question is a definitive yes, and no. The Law of Attraction, if you follow the claims of “secret societies,” goes back to ancient Egypt. It takes some careful analysis but the claims are essentially correct, in my opinion. However, what is more certain is that this concept has been in plain sight for over 2,000 years. Like the proverbial purloined letter, the Law of Attraction has been in millions of homes around the world in the teachings of Jesus.

All too often, the sayings of Jesus are taken out of context. It is rare to actually see what he had to say in the complete context of his teachings. If you examine his whole “stream of thought” on a topic, what results is a meaning and idea that frequently goes against what is taught as religious dogma. This is the case with the Law of Attraction. Given that many Christian “hard liners” spoke out against the concepts presented in “The Secret” and the Law of Attraction, I decided to take a closer examination of the actual sayings attributed to Jesus as they may relate to this subject. What I found, and have documented in my recently released book, “Jesus Taught It, Too: The Early Roots of the Law of Attraction,” was that Jesus was a strong advocate of this principle. He further talked about what has commonly been termed the “create your own reality” ideology and he actually introduced what I have termed, The Law of Responsibility.

Many have argued that these so called “laws” are not at all scientific and have no basis in the physical sciences. Equal arguments have been put forth by some scientists that they are, in fact, physical laws. That is a debate best left for others but recent advances in quantum physics at least suggests that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to how energy forces in the universe are organized and manipulated. To avoid that debate, let us just say that these are “spiritual laws.” I would have to say that few could argue with the basic premise, not including magnetism or electricity that like minded people tend to aggregate together. People join in groups, unions or marriages because they share similar interests. Animals form herds for mutual benefit, “birds of a feather flock together,” and even microscopic creatures form colonies. Is this a physical law? Perhaps it is but at a minimum the concept cannot be ignored in dealing with the notion that “like attracts like.” From political parties, book clubs, ethnic clubs, sports teams and other social groupings, the operating principle is that similar ideas are attracted to one another.

After all, does not religion spread because people come to share a common theology? It seems that whenever someone in the pulpit teaches the words of Jesus, it is always in the context of serving the church, not sinning, being faithful to god, worship and other concepts that perpetuate the need for the pulpit. What is not usually taught or examined is that Jesus taught about how to live your everyday life. He knew people were concerned about putting food on the table and a roof over their head. He saw that people were ill, poor and lacking in personal freedom. It is in this context that he put forward sets of principles and formulas that would enable people to live a happy life and not one of poverty stricken servitude and mindless worship. Jesus taught that the “fields were already white with harvest” and that the “guiding intelligence” of the universe saw to it that all needs and desires are met. These promises, contrary to what some would have you believe, were unconditional and required no servitude or worship. They only required an open mind that could pierce through the cloak of ignorance and blind obedience in order to see the light of truth.