Melvin Tinker

Tinker’s book is really good. He weaves in ideas from CS Lewis’s That Hideous Strength and the Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11 to give insight about the state of affairs in the world. He also says the book “unpacks the main ideology at work in the west; one which uses technology and education to promote a thoroughly self-centered understanding of human beings” (20). Deception of the masses is taking place. The picture is rather bleak.

But Tinker’s analysis is extremely good. Ideas do have consequences. Chapters 1 and 2 review Lewis and Genesis 11 before chapter 3 dives into the rampant and now pervasive idea of cultural Marxism. He tells the story down to its roots in critical theory and the Frankfurt School and how critical theory integrated Darwinism and Freudiansim, forming an ideological weapon of mass destruction. Chapter 4 discusses gender and chapter 5 is about the attack on the family. Tinker concludes in chapter 6 with a way forward, directing Christians to avoid twin errors of cognitive and cultural resistance (keeping the world at a distance) and cognitive and cultural adaptation (assimilating cultural values into the church). The first stance could be owed more to fear than faithfulness while the second is a Christian church that has lost its saltiness (ch. 6).

Tinker advocates for a more courageous path. Drawing again from Lewis, he commends one of resistance thinking. This is a way of thinking that balances the pursuit of relevance with a tenacious awareness of certain elements of the Christian message that don’t fit in with any age, contemporary or not. Resistance thinking is relevance with faithfulness, exemplified by Paul. “The picture of Christians being in exile is suggestive of how we are to relate and witness in an increasingly hostile culture living in the shadow of the present Tower of Babel” (103). Tinker says the way forward must involve a praying people, a literate leadership, and a changed community. Each of these is integral to the path that lies ahead.

I thought the strength of the book was found in the analysis of cultural Marxism and emergence of the Frankfurt School in the 1930’s. In those days, Gramsci, Marcuse, and Horkheimer were doing a dance that now has the modern west spinning with confusion. Horkheimer’s wedding of psychoanalysis and critical theory illustrates how opposite agendas often pair up in order to further a movement. The section outlining the propaganda ploys of emotional manipulation, lies, and subjectivity that “would make Goebbels proud” proved shocking (64). I can recall the negative stigma of homosexuality in my youth and now its outright acceptance today. It was a rapid 180 degree shift.

The book is well worth the read. It was Ryle who once said, “Give me a candle and a Bible, and shut me up in a dark dungeon, and I will tell you all that the whole world is doing.” Tinker didn’t have a dungeon to work with, but he has done the analytic leg work to give a coherent picture of what is going on today. It is a bleak perspective, but a helpful one nonetheless. Well worth the time to read.

In every age, people set themselves up against the true and living God. Idols and isms are mass marketed by the prince of the power of the air to deceive. Humans are captive to his will and need the liberating power of the gospel for rescue. While critical theory is aiming to drive away the very concept of truth by relegating it to a mere era in history, God’s word equips Christians to think clearly and faithfully. Truth, not relevancy is our guide. The world’s fads and movements will pass away, but eternal truth, God’s revelation lights our path.… (més)

A politically and theologically conservative introduction to cultural Marxism.

The strength of the book is that Tinker summarizes and quotes helpful primary sources on Marxism and provides helpful analysis in quotations from others. I did find this made the book more difficult to read however. At many points I wanted Tinker to tell me what he thinks rather quoting yet another commentator. Also at some point I wished he had stopped analyzing what’s going on and spent more time sharing what Christians should be about.

The book is written in a tone and style that assumes the reader has the same worldview as the author. I thought this was a mistake. The book would have been more useful if it was written as an attempt to persuade those to see the world differently from a Christian worldview rather than the worldview served up by contemporary society. That way, I would more easily give this to progressive Christians in my church.

I would recommend the book for pastors who want a brief introduction to the topic.… (més)