"7 Men Who Rule the World from the Grave"

A few weeks ago my good friend Norm gave me a copy of 7 Men Who Rule the World from the Grave. Since I knew I was soon flying to India, I also knew that I would have some travel time to read. During my time in the air and on the ground I completed and greatly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it.

The author, Dave Breese, looks at the lives, influences, and writings of seven men whose ideas still rule much of today's thinking around the world, especially in the West. The seven men are Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Julius Wellhausen, John Dewey, Sigmund Freud, John Keynes, and Soren Kierkegaard. Each of these men has, in his own way, deeply impacted the culture in which we live; this despite the fact that all seven have been dead for decades.

This book reminds us that ideas have consequences. For example, Marx's flawed view of human nature, government, and economics directly led to the murder of many millions of people in the Soviet Union and communist China. Freud's thinking on human sexuality directed the path to the "sexual revolution" of the 1960's. Wellhausen, one of the first German biblical critics, destroyed high education's view of the truth of scripture. Dewey is in large part responsible for the travesty that has become the public school system today. Many of President Obama's decisions today descend directly from Keynes, who was one of the first proponents of bigger government.

As for Charles Darwin, his thinking reigns supreme at all education levels in our society today. To even mention biblical creationism is to be laughed at and scorned.

I would wager that most Americans know little to nothing about most of these seven men. However, most Americans' worldviews and thought patterns are directly affected by what these men thought and taught. Why is our society like it is? Read these men and you will know.

The only negative about this book is that the author speaks positively about Christian fundamentalism. However, this does not impact his views of what these seven men have written. Therefore, it is not a significant issue.

I highly recommend this book. It is well-written, well-researched, and interesting. Most importantly, it helps us understand the culture in which we live. The title of the book could not be more accurate. These seven men still rule.