Makers of the Modern Revolution

Order of Service

• Sermon
• Scripture Reading — Ephesians 6:1-4
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: Makers of the Modern Revolution

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

I. The Failure of Classical Marxism as the Starting Point

A. Marx's theory predicted revolution would arise from a developed industrial working class B. The theory failed to explain key historical anomalies

1. Revolution succeeded in agrarian Russia, not industrial Germany
2. The Spartacist uprising in post-WWI Germany failed despite a strong working class
3. Working classes in the 1920s moved toward fascism and Nazism rather than communism C. Marx left a psychological void — he never explained how revolutionary consciousness would develop

II. Wilhelm Reich's Fusion of Freud and Marx

A. Reich (1897–1957) was a junior colleague of Freud in Vienna; even Freud considered him too extreme B. Reich's key move: historicizing Freud through a Marxist lens

1. Freud argued sexual repression was the foundation of civilization generally
2. Reich argued specific sexual codes (e.g., monogamous heterosexual marriage, the nuclear family) served the interests of bourgeois capitalist society specifically
3. The patriarchal family trains children into obedience, producing what Reich called "acquiescent subjects" C. Reich's explanation for fascism's appeal
4. The authoritarian family functions as a microcosm of the authoritarian state
5. Children trained to obey a father figure later transfer that deference to political "great leader" figures (the Führer, the Duce)
6. The church reinforces family-based repression and obedience

III. Reich's Work The Sexual Revolution (1936)

A. Written thirty years before it gained political currency in the 1968 student revolts B. Central argument: sexual codes are tools of oppression, not universal moral truths

1. Political revolution is therefore inseparable from sexual revolution
2. Any adult who hinders the development of a child's sexuality, Reich argued, should be "severely dealt with" — a direct anticipation of modern debates over sex education and parental rights C. Reich redefined oppression from economic to psychological categories
3. 19th-century oppression was understood in economic terms (wages, labor, poverty)
4. Reich reframed oppression as the denial of one's inner desires and identity through moral codes
5. Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce observed that the left increasingly fights in terms of warfare against repression rather than class warfare

IV. Legacy and Cultural Impact

A. Freud established sexual desire as identity, not merely activity B. Reich politicized that identity: sexual freedom and political freedom became the same struggle C. These ideas spread from small academic circles in the 1930s, captured universities, and saturated Western culture by the late 20th century D. The contemporary prominence of sexual politics (including the LGBT movement) traces directly to this ideological lineage E. Del Noce's summary: the left now frames justice as the dismantling of repressive moral codes

V. Biblical and Pastoral Response

A. Romans 1 frames this trajectory as mankind's rebellion against God and God giving humanity over to its desires B. The church bears responsibility for failures to be salt and light that created openings for these ideas C. Ephesians 6:1-4 — parents are called to bring children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord

1. Family worship is essential to passing faith to the next generation
2. Parents must not outsource spiritual formation to schools, churches, or entertainment
3. God models true fatherhood: gracious, merciful, disciplining, and welcoming the returning prodigal D. True freedom is not autonomous self-rule but freedom within the boundaries of God's law and authority