Seven Men Who Rule the World From the Grave [Paperback]

David Breese (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 1992

Though their bodies lie cold and dormant, the grave cannot contain the influence these seven men have had on today's world. They continue to rule because they have altered the thinking of society. They generated philosophies that have been ardently grasped by masses of people but are erroneous and antiscriptural. Today these ideas pervade our schools, businesses, homes, even the church. As we continue to unknowingly subscibe to their philosophies we keep the grave open for Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Julius Wellhausen, John Dewey, Sigmund Freud, John Maynard Keynes, and Soren Kierkegaard. Dave Breese warns us of the dangers of believing unreservedly the ideas of these seven men. He also reminds us of the only man whose life and words we can trust completely -- Jesus Christ.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Moody Publishers (March 9, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802484484
• ISBN-13: 978-0802484482
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 7 Who Pander to Mankind's Irascible Nature, January 28, 2007

By 

Steven P. Sawyer (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seven Men Who Rule the World From the Grave (Paperback)

In this book the author discusses the dreadful consequences of the ideas of Darwin, Marx, Julius Wellhausen [and special mention Einstein], Sigmund Freud, John Dewey, John Maynard Keynes, and Soren Kierkegaard. He says, very tellingly, of Keynes (but could be applied to all): "Is Keynes really to be blamed ... ? We think not. [He] can only exercise power because he panders to the irascible nature of mankind. Keynsian economics gave to the Roosevelt administration and to successive govts of this and other lands an excuse to live the lives of economic dissipation, which was their intention in the first place." Breese begins the book by observing: "The means by which one person is able to rule many others is a fascinating subject of study. Invariably, the explanation of such control is that it is a matter of the mind. Any ruler, no matter how numerous his weapons or great his wealth, must finally rule by ... persuasion ... [by] produc[ing] in the minds of others ... a kind of little god [an ideology]."

Darwin's (1809-82) chapter is "Biology is Destiny" and we're all familiar with the damage resulting from his legacy, including the idea (i.e. scientISM) that it represents some godlike oracle whose pronouncements can't reasonably be questioned, instead of the more accurate view as a humble and LIMITED servant of curious mankind. A great example is Carl Sagan's famous statement that "the Cosmos is all there is, ever was, or ever will be," posing as a statement of omniscient science but actually a statement of Sagan's personal faith committment to atheistic, materialistic naturalism. Breese also discusses how Darwin's ideas inspired "social darwinism" and "survival of the fittest" (i.e. that social evolution should be consciously patterned after nature in this way).

Marx's (1818-83) chapter is titled "The Ruling Principle for All Humanity" and his ideas are also well-known. He rejected God and believed that economic class is destiny and that all the workers of the world should unite to throw off their oppressors.

Then we come to Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918, "Closing the Book" i.e. the Bible), father of German 'higher criticism' and of religious liberalism, which rejected the literal interpretation of the Bible and substituted nice-sounding platitudes for harsh biblical truths (e.g. original sin) that humans have always found offensive to their egos.

Breese includes a chapter on Einstein (1879-1955, "The Coming of the Strange Fire") and his nuclear science, relativity, which culturally became relativISM, although that was not Einstein's intention or fault (he retained his belief in God).

Next is Sigmund Freud (1856-1939, "Looking Within") whose "libido determinism" reduced humanity to Pavlovian hormone-driven animals and saw religion is 'mental infantilism, mass delusion.' Fortunately, Freud's ideas, like Darwin's and Marx's, are beginning to fade under renewed (Christian) challenge.

John Dewey (1859-1952, "The Vast Emergence") rejected the idea of objective truth and bought into the scientistic idea that (relativistic) 'truth' can only be found by experimentation. He was a promoter of progressivism, especially in the field of education. He didn't reject religion outright, seeing it as socially useful, but pinned his real hope on the 'vast emergence' (always emerging, never arriving) of a new, scientifically based, progressive view of humanity and the world which would eventually solve all problems (i.e. utopian).

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946, "New Hope for the Nations") emerged during the dark days of the Great Depression with his "solution" to the world's problems: govt-as-god, economic interventionism, endlessly mounting debt, national debt $3.3T in 1990, how will it be paid? inflation). As of now (9 Apr 2007), the US national debt is $8.9T, and can be viewed on a number of websites, including [...]

Finally, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55, "The Advent of Diffusion") and existentialism are covered. By 'diffusion' Breese means 'watering-down' of Truth, which existentialism does. Kierkegaard's ideas were initially ignored, but then rediscovered 100 yrs after his death as a perfect philosophy for liberals casting about for an alternative to their utterly failed sin-denying pipe-dreams (their so-called "Crisis of the West").

He ends the book on a hopeful note ("Who Shall Overcome?") by noting that, despite the potent (continuing) impact of these anti-Christian philosophies, God and His Truth will eventually triumph.

81 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth Will Set You Free, February 28, 2000

By 

Foundation Ministries "Rev Jack F, Ph.D." (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seven Men Who Rule the World From the Grave (Paperback)

I found Dr. Dave Breese's book to be well written and very informative. It helps explain the mess that our current society now finds itself. Several others have reviewed this book negatively only because they have a very different Worldview than the biblical one. Dr. Breese does not have a problem with the Seven Men because they do not agree with him, but because of the fruit of their teaching. Jesus Christ taught us that "you will know them by their fruit". The fruit of the teachings from the 7 men is clear. The rejection of absolute right and wrong, or absolute truth is rejected by society. Existentialism lives; evolution is the lie of the day, but it is not because God is not Omnipotent, and we christians do not fear these philosophies as one reviewer stated. Several reviewers appear to have a problem with the Christian Worldview, not really with the book. Dr. Breese gives such great insight into the strongholds of the secular mind that have been controled by the philosophy of the day. Every true christian should read this book and be enlightened to the mindset of our day.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FOUR MEN WHO RULE THE WORLD DESTRUCTIVELY FROM THE GRAVE, February 18, 2010

By 

G. Charles Steiner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seven Men Who Rule the World From the Grave (Paperback)

First off, the title is misleading. The author discusses eight dead white men, but the title seems to convey there are only seven dead white men who rule the world from the grave.

Further, and let's get this much out of the way first: there are four men too many described in this book. They are Albert Einstein, Julius Wellhausen, John Dewey, and Soren Kierkegaard. I say four too many because:

(1) the author admits Einstein, in particular, "cannot 'officially' make" one of the seven. (Is this why then the author claims there are just seven men who rule the world from the grave?) What is the scale of impact for these men ruling from their graves in terms of grave and serious consequences to life and society? Answer: They are neither seriously grave nor significantly negative. What the author wishes to point out is how destructive to religious values is the notion of Relativism, and since the author needs to start somewhere, he starts with Einstein's theory of relativity which has nothing to do at all, the author admits, with Relativism. (The author should have discussed the ideas of the Greek philosopher Protagoras if he really wanted to get to the source of Relativism.)

(2) How much has the general public ever seriously discussed Julius Wellhausen's ideas? (Who?) Besides being a liberal theologian (and a completely new figure to me in the history of ideas, I'm glad to admit), the author treats this Bible interpreter much as he treated Einstein: makes his ideas (indirectly) responsible for all sorts of society ills and irreligion when, in fact, it was others who used his ideas essentially to "wreak havoc," if that is even the right phrase, whereby the Bible interpreter's liberalism "explodes" in the 20th century with Liberation Theology.

(3) the critical examination of both John Dewey and Soren Kierkegaard is neither incisive nor persuasive. It is the modern public education system that the author wishes to criticize in these pages, and rightly so, but just because John Dewey was the darling of the media and public education simultaneously during the middle of the 20th century, doesn't mean he's the perfect kingpin for the destruction of values, both religious and secular, that we all witness occurring in our schools today. Perhaps even more responsible for the dumbing down of our educational system are Andrew Carnegie and the Rockefeller Foundation. See the writings available on the underground history of American education. (And, oh, yes, John Dewey and Kierkegaard were both murky writers and often relativisitic in their thinking, but neither are the destroyers of Western Civilization and Western religion as we know it. We know it!) In addition, while some say, like the author himself does, that Soren Kierkegaard is the "father of Existentialism," no modern-day philosopher, Existentialist or otherwise, has had a greater negative impact on society and religion moreso than the non-Existential German philospher Frederich Nietszche. The author's targeting of an eccentric, contradictory Christian Danish man as the whipping boy for the irrationality going on in our society is simply fatuous.

However, that being said, the real meat of the book, the area that provides the most incisive and persuasive criticism as well as the clearest food for thought, making the entire book worth rejoicing over, concerns those pages dealing with Karl Marx, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, Sigmund Freud, and John Maynard Keynes (a weak fourth, but not irrelevant). The arguments the author puts forth deconstructing Darwin's so-called science and logic alone are precious (although it would have made a better chapter on Darwin had the author as well referenced the philosopher Herbert Spencer who was the originator of that nefarious idea "survival of the fittest," not Charles Darwin). The author's summation of the ideas of Karl Marx and their horrific and Satanic impact on our world is wonderfully concise and accurate. His chapter on Sigmund Freud completely demolishes the edifice of fantasy that's been created around this charlatan. And, finally, the chapter on Maynard Keynes, while unpleasantly prolix at times, contains the news that keeps on being news: how are we going to solve our economic problems in the United States.

This book is imminently readable for the generalist, Christian and non-Christian, I think. To the atheists, I instruct them just to read around the theological bits and avoid religious dispute because most of what the author has to say is reasonable and logical, and to the Christian, I merely wish to say good luck with your endeavor because we're all in this together and the author has pointed out the consequences of some very bad ideas the palpable and visceral results of which are being experienced by all of humanity at this point and we need each other to be on board with awareness of just what the unnecessary and nefarious ills are we now share and what can be the remedy. Dave Breese has made me grateful for his contribution to that end.