Grave Influence: 21 Radicals and Their Worldviews That Rule America From the Grave

by Brannon Howse

Grave Influence 21 Radicals

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative. The people covered in this book are: Alice Bailey, Helen Schucman, Julius Wellhausen, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Dewey, The Frankfurt School, Betty Friedan, William James, Alfred Kinsey, Aldous Huxley, Benjamin Bloom, B.F. Skinner, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Christopher Columbus Langdell, Saul Alinsky, Sigmund Freud, Margaret Sanger & Roger Baldwin.

[Adrianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A startling review of those dead and currently hailed yet detrimental to society and America as we know it. A must read for those seeking truth about what we have become and are becoming as a nation.

[Bill Beatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend it. Every believer needs to have a Christian worldview. This book helps you to establish that. It also shows you the driving forces of all that's happening in the world today.

[Philip Kneller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic way to review the Enemy's influence since America was founded (roughly). Note - The author's views, while Biblically accurate, might be held in contention by some Christian denominations and be far too strong for non-Christians or socialist (possibly). It's not so much, "Is he right?" as "He was right but WOAH." I realize it's vague, but that's about all I can say to prepare the reader without getting kicked off the app (probably).

He goes in-depth, given the page allotments, on the monsters of history such as Alice Bailey, Karl Marx, Alistair Crowley, Margaret Sanger, Sigmund Freud, John Maynard Keynes and manny more. You'll realize the accuracy of my description after reading the book.

Overall, a terrifying account of humanity's gullibility across all facets of our miserable existence.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Grave Influence" is an eye-opening book intended to grab the reader's attention and show in precise and clear ways how, though they (the 21 radicals) are dead, they still speak. What they say, through their disciples and the worldview that they purported, is not good. The author exposes the godlessness of 21 different radicals, showing that their fundamental goal was/is the destruction of America and a push towards communism, chaos, and anarchy. There is no doubt that the history of our incredible nation is littered with wrongs. That is not really worth a debate. But the history of our incredible nation is also littered with many rights, rights that have been expressed by the opposition to evil, the provision of needs for nations/peoples who are staggering under the weight of godless regimes/governments, under the weight of horrific famine and sickness. Throughout my lifetime alone, trillions of dollars have been spent trying to meet the physical needs of people and nations. So, with all of the negatives of our country's history, the amazing strengths and good things that have been done, are often overlooked. For some reason, best explained by a depravity and corruption of the soul, 21 influences that are featured in this book are shown to be men and women who worked to destroy our country from within. And they have been and are effective in their endeavors. Howse explores the influence of those who were involved in the occult and pagan spirituality (Bailey, Schucman), the influence of the apostate church (Wellhousen, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche), the degrading influence of the educational establishment (Dewey, Frankfurt School, Friedan, James, Kinsey, Huxley, Bloom, Skinner, Darwin), and last the influence of governmental figures (Marx, Keynes, Langdell, Alinsky*, Freud, Sanger, and Baldwin) over time. It's fairly obvious that America is on its last leg. But the author doesn't end on a negative note, but shares a list of things that come with the opportunity.
I found this book an interesting, interesting read and one that perhaps should be read by all who claim to love our nation. Perhaps, in God's good grace, the tide of rebellion and hatred for both God, man, and America, along with a staggering love for rebellion and sin can be stopped.

[Curt Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Grave Influence: 21 Radicals and Their Worldviews that Rule America from the Grave”. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but I cannot think of a more apt title. This is a book about serious issues. Do you want to know why America’s education system is so flawed? Are you suspicious of the dangers of the Feminist movement? Are you confused about why more government intervention always seems to be the solution to crisis? Brannon Howse has done his research (there are almost 400 citations in Grave Influence), and he exposes the origins of these destructive worldviews. It’s a bit of a tough read. While the language isn’t outdated, it requires quite a lot of focused mental effort. It rewards those who are seeking information, but could put a casual novel reader to sleep in minutes.

Moving on from the technical side, I love this book. It’s rich with history and clearly shows how ideas have consequences. Sometimes I’d finish a chapter and wonder, “How can people buy this garbage?” or “I can scarcely believe how vile the human race can be.” I must admit though, there were a couple of times when I’d be reading a chapter and think, “Wait, why is this dangerous?” Brannon quickly convinced me that there’s more to it than the face value. That is actually a recurring theme in the book—things are not always as good as they sound. There are likely thousands of organizations out there that don’t sound so bad—when in reality they are dedicated to communism, the New Age, or the legalization of sexual perversions. Grave Influence highlights just a few of these organizations.

It’s frightening. It’s depressing. It’s enraging. Grave Influence reveals all too many issues that Christians are either ignorant of or indifferent to. Mr. Howse’s final plea to the Believer comes in his conclusion. We are to fulfill the Great Commission. This is more than evangelism though. We are called to “Proclaim truth...Live the truth...Defend the truth...[&] Instruct in the truth.” This is what “making disciples of all nations” is all about. Spread the good news, but also equip the new Believer with the tools he requires to defend and teach his faith.

[Erin Peabody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book. I’d love to see an updated version post-cvd, but honestly his warnings were for exactly like a cvd scenario. If you are a follower of Jesus, READ THIS BOOK. You need to be informed! You need to know where evil is, where it came from, WHO decided it and be able to fight against it! It’s a spiritual battle, NOT political!

[Undomiel Books]

Read as a reference source - some interesting information, especially on the education sector. but some sections referenced little literature to support claims, whilst others had more, making some seem more reliable than others.

[Steve Clem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book. However, Brannon House thinks we have lost the culture war. However, the reality is that there is a remnant who has not. Why? Because we refuse to bow to the culture. This takes radical Christianity, without a militant view. Brannon is a little too militant for me in some of his on-line videos. However, the book is well documented and should be on every serious Christian's library bookshelf.

More concerning the culture.............all generations have suffered serious opposition from the enemies of Christ. My perspective is that the real losers of the culture wars are those who oppose themselves and other men to the point of their own destruction. We, as Christians, should live out the "culture" of Christ in the church and faithfully live it in our communities. Certainly, the sins of the culture impact the church, but I would like to point out that God can heal a land.....turn it around.....clean it up.....and renew it anytime He desires. So, the culture war is not lost until He decides it's time to pull the plug and send everything down the drain.

He will redeem what He wants, when He want to. And He always provides for His remnant according to His will.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unfortunately waste of potential. Howse seems overdramatic in his assessment of current politics. While I agree America is coming to the end of is superpower status, his assessment that everyone is a socialist (and I mean everyone--he says at one point our choices are between socialist party-D and socialist party-R) is overblown. While many of the positions described in the book are disturbing and are at work in American culture, these viewpoints are far less extensive than Howse claims. I have read little of the 21 radicals he mentions, but one quote in particular is taken out of context. Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World is quoted. As most know, this is a dystopia, describing a totalitarian government which Huxley clearly does not support. But Howse uses a quote showing Huxley supporting it.

Again, I have read little of the 21 radicals, and I do not doubt that much of it is accurate, but the Howse's misrepresentation of Huxley's quote begs the question what else is he overstating and ripping out of context.

One note of resounding support for the book: he refrained from an "end of the wold mentality". The end of America does not mean the end of the world.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brannon Howse begins this book by stating that Christians have lost the culture war, I agree. “Grave Influence” brings the scattered and murky beliefs permeating America into focus and allows you to really understand where they came from, and where they could lead to. He states that his purpose in writing the book is to help us see the world and all the events taking place as a big picture, not just bits and pieces. I liked the book, but at times he is overly-simplistic when evaluating the various leaders on his list. Sometimes being simplistic can lead to a miss-representation of what someone believes & teaches. Also he sometimes throws out the good w/the bad, example, rather than consider the legitimate points made by environmental thinkers, even Christian environmentalists, he does the easy thing & just labels all such thinkers as mystic pantheistic pagans and thereby condemns anything & everything they might do or say.

Now a better book would be “7 Men Who Rule the World from the Grave” by David Breese, I would give that book 4 stars maybe 4.5 while “Grave Influence” gets only 2 stars.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on Christian worldviews and what we currently face in society today. He gives a short biography of twenty-one different people who have shaped current worldviews and why this impacts us.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this, I learned a lot, although the way it was written was a little bit hard for me to follow and I had to read many sentences twice. But other than that it was really good!

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book, but I have to admit once in a while it was hard to follow because it discusses economics and law, two topics that tend to break my brain a bit when I read about them. I tend to read for general details, not specific ones, so occasionally I'd have to slow down and make sure I really understood the concepts being written about.

This is the most important book on the Christian Church and things of a spiritual nature that I've read since The Seduction of Christianity, which was almost 18 years ago. With the exception of The Bible, of course.