[1] In addition to several sermons first published in these anthologies, Secrets in the Dark also contains a number of original works.

The collections features sermons preached while the author was chaplain at the Phillips Exeter Academy in 1959, alongside addresses given at a variety of venues, including the National Cathedral in Washington DC, Westminster Abbey, Princeton University Chapel, Mercersburg Academy, and the New York Public Library.

'[3] The critic further remarks that Buechner's apologetic style in Secrets in the Dark acknowledges what is 'preposterous and unbelievable' in the Biblical narrative, while also insisting that it 'has to be true'.

[4] Dale Brown locates the source for Buechner's preoccupations in Secrets in the Dark in Karl Barth's question, "Is It True?".

[7] Brown roots Buechner's concern with personal experience in Secrets in the Dark in the work of theologians such as James Muilenberg and Paul Tillich; the critic writes that the 'airing of secrets', which he argues is promissory to the anthology, is presented as a means of access to 'hope and healing'.