Trust, Confidentialty, Prudence

The etymology of “secret” means to “set apart” or “separate” (the word “secretary” is derived from it). We live in a world where some information is reserved to those who have a legitimate right to it, responsibility for it, or authority over it.

Even Jesus requested that certain information be kept “secret” in this sense of the word (Matthew 9:28-30 and Matthew 16:19-20). The Bible indicates that God reveals only certain things to us as needed for our salvation while stating that God retains other things as “secrets” (Deuteronomy 29:2). Therefore, keeping a secret is biblically based and frequently encouraged.

In our contemporary experience, we tend to understand secrets as confidential information concerning persons, nations, industries, scientific research, military operations, organizations and so forth. Such confidentiality is beneficial when it promotes the common good but confidentiality can be equally detrimental when it facilitates or protects harmful actions towards innocent persons.