Review: The Tide Has Turned by Anthony Whelan 

The Tide Has Turned acts as a sobering wake-up call to the Church, exposing many prominent deceptions that has infiltrated the (especially) Charismatic Church over the past forty years or so.

Reckless living

The book begins with the author’s own fascinating story. Tony confesses that his youth in the 60s and early 1970s led to “times of homelessness, heavy drinking, drug-taking, relationships with various women, police arrests, and at one point, two years in prison.” (p.25). He describes his time spent in a London ‘commune’, where, on one occasion, he was left for dead following a vicious fight. Miraculously, he survived.

Disillusioned, and searching for meaning to life, Tony turned to Christ. His conversion was decisive and life-changing. He became connected to a church that was heavily into the restoration movement, popular in the 1970s and 80s. He got caught up in the Toronto Blessing, which overtook the charismatic Church in the mid-1990s, and was involved in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and Training for Supernatural Ministry (p.66) in subsequent years.

Recalculation

Tony soaked it all up before undergoing a massive recalculation and redirection in his spiritual journey: “He plucked me from my existing path and transplanted me into a completely different realm.” (p.75) He began to re-evaluate everything – a lengthy and disturbing process that ultimately proved highly rewarding, as his spiritual eyes were opened and he saw things in a new light.

Tony soaked it all up before undergoing a massive recalculation and redirection in his spiritual journey

The author goes on to highlight a number of issues where he became aware he had been massively deceived, and which he feels continues to be deceive many Christians. The main focus is on various movements within the Church:

1. Restorationism – or ‘Kingdom now theology’ – which includes the Latter Rain movement and the Kansas City Prophet movement.
2. The Toronto Blessing (chap 11) and its offshoots – Pensacola and Lakeland.
3. The New Apostolic Movement, with accompanying phenomena such as glory clouds, gem-stones and gold-dust.
4. The prophetic movement (chap 15)
5. False revivals and promises of revival
6. Ecumenism (chap 16)

Lonely prophet

Throughout the book, Tony expresses his frustration with church leaders, – some of whom he personally approached – who refused to seriously consider that they might be leading their congregations astray with deceptive teachings and practices.

This means that at times, the book comes over as the raging of a lonely prophet who is not being taken seriously. Some may find the author’s observations at times over-pessimistic and gloomy, focusing on the negatives and ignoring all the good that is being accomplished within charismatic churches across the land. Some may also note a lack of vision on how discerning believers can move forward, anchored securely in the Word of God, yet walking and thriving in the Spirit at all times.

Tony has done his research well and often delves into the history of the various movements he describes. 

Wisdom abounding

The book is well-written and regularly draws on the insights gleaned by others. Tony has done his research well and often delves into the history of the various movements he describes. He also provides helpful, detailed appendices on the New Age movement and ‘cultural Marxism’.

With an abundance of wisdom contained within, I pray this book will serve to open the eyes of well-meaning believers who truly love God and may well be effective witnesses, yet who have varying degrees of connection to some of the above-noted unbiblical practices whilst remaining unaware they are somewhat off-kilter.

The Tide Has Turned (250pp) is self-published (2024), and is available from Amazon for £10.97 inc p&p.