Manifestation or manifesting is a pseudoscientific theory according to which a person can get something good or bad using the power of thought.
There are many articles on the Internet where people teach the such way of thinking, promising many positive effects. However, what does Christianity think about this phenomenon?
The Essence of The Manifestation
This spiritual movement believes that if a person visualizes what he wants to get, then he will definitely get it.
At the same time, a person must be completely confident in the future result and constantly have positive thinking, otherwise, he will get something much worse.
This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the universe can feel our psychological mood, and send us a positive atmosphere in response, which can materialize into something real.
Here’s what the followers of this movement say: «Manifestation teaches that whatever vibe you think or “put out” will come back to you. If you think good thoughts, good will come back to you; however, if you think negative thoughts, negative things will happen in your life.» (Julia Malacoff, “So, What Is Manifestation — And How Do You Actually Do It?”)
Manifestation even teaches you to make requests to the universe. All this originated from the 19th-century New Thought movement, which combined ancient pagan beliefs and religions of the East.
What Does Christianity Think About It?
Such thinking is unacceptable for Christianity. It’s nothing more than the worship of the universe as some kind of mind or center of the world on which the entire world is based.
At the same time, Christianity believes that everything in our world, including the universe and people, was created by God and it depends on him what happens in our lives.
«In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.» (Genesis 1:1-2)
That is, asking for something from the universe or thinking that the universe can give something is the same as if a person were asking for something from a tree. This is pure paganism.
The question arises, why should people believe in the universe that God created if you can just believe in God and communicate with him through prayer?
If a person considers himself a Christian, he should believe only in God, as faith in the universe or horoscopes directly contradicts Christianity.
Also, such thinking develops excessive pride. A person begins to think that only by his desire alone he can influence his life.
This is completely contrary to Christianity. Instead of trusting God, a person believes in himself and in some universe that works as a soulless mechanism for fulfilling desires.
The Bible tells us to rely on God, not on our own understanding: «Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding» (Proverbs 3:5).
Instead of praying to God and asking him for help in a situation, a person relies only on himself and his energy, waiting for the desired result. Such thinking only harms the human soul.
The manifestation denies everything that Christianity says, for example, the Holy Scriptures, God, and Christ, encourages a person to a sinful life, denies all Christian works, such as prayer and abstinence, puts empty and spiritless life values above everything, rejects God’s love, and so on.
Christianity doesn’t deny that a person can influence his life through actions, because all people are created in the likeness of God and can make decisions independently.
However, it is God who allows something to happen or not to happen.
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Danger of Manifestation
Professor Alison Bernstein said that “You can’t magically make things happen. You can change the way you react to certain situations, which sounds to me like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy”.
This shows that manifestation is an unscientific phenomenon and is entirely based on psychology.
Indeed, such teaching is nothing more than a game with human psychology, and this game can be very dangerous.
For example, a person who believes in such a teaching can try to test it to achieve their goals. For example, to get a good grade on an exam.
Positive thinking and confidence in a good result will remove fear and nervousness, which will allow a person to focus on the exam and with this, he will get a good grade.
However, in the future, when human psychology won’t be able to play any role in the final result, great damage may be caused to the human psyche.
For example, the same person has a relative who is ill, and he is trying to achieve his recovery with the help of faith in the Universe and positive thinking. If the illness continues to progress, a person either becomes disillusioned with this spiritual teaching or begins to blame himself.
After all, manifestation teaches that not only with the help of positive thinking a person can get something good but also with the help of negative thinking, a person gets something bad.
Thus, our hero may begin to think that he actually wanted a deterioration in health for his relative or wasn’t positive enough, and therefore is guilty of this situation.
Egoism
There are many poor people in the world who see war every day, starve, and suffer from incurable diseases.
To assume that all they need for happiness is positive thinking is real selfishness because many of these people hope for the best and believe in it.
The manifesting calls for not thinking about such people at all. A person is required to focus on his own life and the problems that need to be fixed. This deprives a person of love for other people and gives pride and egoism.
What is Good and Evil?
This teaching can’t clearly answer what is good and what is evil. Those things that are good for one person can be considered something terrible for another.
Unlike Christianity, where we can open the Bible, read the works of Church Fathers, and understand what sin is, there are no clear boundaries in manifestation that define goodness and evil.
Many people who believe in this spiritual movement themselves cannot answer this question, because they reject the morality that exists in Christianity and have nothing more instead.
Final Thoughts
In Christianity, it’s sinful if a person believes that he can change his life without the help or will of God. Moreover, believing in something other than God is also a sin and can be equated with paganism.
Such spiritual practices are based entirely on human psychology and are dangerous to the mind.
Charalampos
Charalampos is an Orthodox Christian who wants to help others learn about Christianity. His main goal is to help people understand the Bible and how to apply its teachings in their everyday lives. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing sports, and hiking.
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