Terror groups round up messengers of peace

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘That Hideous Strength: How the West was Lost’ by Melvin Tinker (Evangelical Press, 2018).

This slim volume is an excellent resource on the state of our society in the light of the creeping revolution known as ‘cultural Marxism’.

Much is now being written on this topic but here is a book which provides an interesting take by drawing on the works of CS Lewis (hence the book’s title) and the account in Genesis 11 of the Tower of Babel.

Insights into Spiritual War

The Lewis book in question, ‘That Hideous Strength’ (1945), is the third in a fictional space trilogy and in some ways itself follows on from a talk Lewis gave called The Abolition of Man (1943). It is helpful to have read these or at least be aware of them, but it is not essential as Tinker explains the connections clearly throughout his book.

The author believes that Lewis’s novel and the Babel story in Genesis provide “penetrating insights into the spiritual warfare which rages today in the West” (p20).

From this standpoint Tinker explores the ideology of cultural Marxism, describing it as “the machine which drives much of the political correctness which is stifling free thought and speech in our society today, as well as providing the philosophical matrix of much of the gender agenda” (p20).

This slim volume is an excellent resource on the state of our society in the light of the creeping revolution known as ‘cultural Marxism’.

Here is ‘that hideous strength’ of our day - no longer fictional but a reality of the manifestation of the principalities and powers seeking to dethrone God and destroy man. The Babel account adds to our understanding by providing one of the earliest expressions of a similar rebellion and arrogance. Here is “a parabolic lens through which we can view and come to understand what has been happening in our society” (p34).

Dethroning God, Destroying Man

Aided by both these works, Tinker shows how an intellectual elite of ideologues is capable of changing what great swathes of the population consider to be ‘common sense’, thus determining which views are permissible, which are outdated and which are dangerous.

Alongside this ability to reshape thinking is the promotion of the representation of the self as the ‘be all and end all’ of human existence. This thoroughly egocentric understanding is projected as reality, setting up the exciting possibility of Man’s power to make of himself what he pleases.

This anti-God rebellion ultimately destroys Man as he was originally created - namely, in the image of God.

Bringing Down Judeo-Christian Society

The first two chapters take us through the Lewis novel and the Babel account as preparation for the heart of Tinker’s book. The third chapter begins the discussion of cultural Marxism as a modern variant of what we find in these earlier works.

Cultural Marxism seeks to ‘liberate’ humanity from the social institutions that have ‘enslaved’ it, such as the family and the Church. Traditional social values have, so the theory goes, promoted repression through inequalities which in turn have prevented the individual from realising his true self and expressing his true desires. He now can achieve full autonomy and be anything he wants to be. He has no need of any reference to God.

Tinker explains the thinking and writings of Herbert Marcuse and Antonio Gramsci, who were at the forefront of this movement, and the later Frankfurt School and Critical Theory, the goal of which is to bring down Judeo-Christian society and culture through unremitting destructive criticism. Mention is also made of Theodor Adorno, who established that anyone who disagrees with this new movement can legitimately be labelled ‘fascist’.

Cultural Marxism is today’s manifestation of the principalities and powers seeking to dethrone God and destroy man.

Such early 20^th Century advocates of cultural Marxism knew they were in for the long haul. Changing society that radically would take time, but the ‘long march’ over 75 years is at last reaching its destination.

Christianity is now seen as implausible and easily ignored, or worse, bigoted and oppressive. Old truths are now declared non-truths, subject to state censorship because they are considered offensive or intolerant. Here is a totalitarianism that masquerades as freedom.

Preaching Christ and the Cross

In Chapter 4 Tinker explores gender issues, revealing the programme undertaken to change societal views and penalise disagreement. It is devastating to see what has happened and what this means for our future. Throwing off all traditional values and sexual restraints has led to a ‘polymorphous perversity’. The power of hormones has triumphed!

In the next chapter he shows how the gates have been breached within the Church. In particular, the cultural Marxist agenda is now embedded within the organisational structure of the Church of England which has become an insipid and derivative mouthpiece for modernism.

Thankfully, the final chapter offers some hope for ‘Bringing Down Babel’. Although this is ultimately for God to do, declaring the duality of Christ’s person (human and divine) is the best way to counter cultural Marxism, Tinker argues. We can still preach Christ and the Cross. But will we speak out or run and hide?

Overall this book is a worthwhile contribution to the growing and necessary discussion of this important issue.

‘That Hideous Strength’ (128pp, paperback) is available from the publisher for £6.99. Also available elsewhere online.

Readers may also be interested in Steve Maltz’s recent book on cultural Marxism, ‘Into the Lions’ Den’, which we reviewed here, as well as the upcoming Foundations 10 conference on the same theme.