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Black theologian Dr. Voddie T. Baucham says that there is an insidious "demonic ideology" behind the teaching of critical race theory, core tenets of the Black Lives Matter movement, and more.

In an interview with the Daily Wire's Jon Brown, Baucham — an American expat who serves as the dean of theology at African Christian University in Zambia — warned that when he visits America, he is always struck by the ever-changing social temperature in the country.

"I've come back three or four times a year for speaking tours, and it's always interesting to be an American expat looking back at the U.S.," Baucham, who was born in Los Angeles in 1969, said.

In his latest book, "Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe," the theologian states that he believes topics such as CRT and anti-racism are flash points in an ongoing spiritual war across the world and specifically in the United States.

Baucham released the book — currently the No. 1 best-seller in Amazon's Christian Personal Growth section — in April.

“I think that's one of the reasons that I just became so keenly aware and so passionate about writing this book, because it was really noticeable to me that things were shifting quickly and deteriorating quickly," he told Brown. “And I'm watching families be divided, churches be divided, institutions and schools and denominations be divided over this thing. Being an expat coming back and seeing that, it was just alarming to me."

'Demonic ideology'
Of Baucham's childhood, Brown said, "He remembers well the era of desegregation busing and the ravages of the crack epidemic. There, in an impoverished single-parent household in Los Angeles, Baucham eventually came to Christianity and officially converted when he was a freshman in college despite initially being drawn to the ideologies of Malcolm X and other black nationalist concepts."

“The question of the proper order of faith and ethnicity is critical to understanding the various positions people take in the broader social-justice debate — one with which all people must wrestle, regardless of their ethnicity," Baucham wrote in his book. “However, for black Christians, this concept has often been difficult to embrace for several reasons."

Brown added, "When he became a Christian, he found he had to renounce [Malcolm X worldviews], but it gave him a unique discernment into the nature of CRT and other ideologies that seek to politically weaponize race and undermine faith."

"Baucham dissects over several chapters how CRT and the social justice movement twist traditional religious categories into a means by which to assert power," Brown wrote. "Characterizing the battles facing the U.S. as fundamentally spiritual, he deftly traces such philosophies to their origin in what he describes as the 'demonic ideology' of Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, and their neo-Marxist successors in the Frankfurt School."

CRT, anti-racism, BLM 'very much religious in its overtones'
Baucham added that concepts like "anti-racism" are "very much religious in its overtones."

"But more specifically, this religion has its own cosmology, its own understanding of the way the world came to be," he added. "This religion has its own theology and theological terminology. It has its own saints, its own priests, it has its own rituals. And it has a dogged commitment to its ideology and its theology and a punitive approach to those who step out of line. So it's a religion, but as a religion, it offers no hope. There is no ultimate redemption in antiracism. You just have to do the work of antiracism for the rest of your life and hope you never step out of line, because if you do, then you go back to zero."

He also argued that the biggest weapon against division and hatred is not reparations — but forgiveness.

"Antiracism knows nothing of forgiveness because it knows nothing of the Gospel," Baucham insisted. "Instead, antiracism offers endless penance, judgement, and fear."

Of the Black Lives Matter movement, Baucham wrote, "I see Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Critical Social Justice, and their antecedents — Marxism, Conflict Theory, and Critical Theory — as 'cosmic powers over this present darkness.' The organization is Marxist, revolutionary, feminist, misandrous, pro-LGBTQIA+, pro-abortion, and anti-family, with roots in the occult. It is unacceptable for Christians to partner with, celebrate, identify with or promote this organization."

A great awakening
Baucham said that he has hope for the future, however, and does not anticipate a race war — but a great awakening.

"I was worried for a while that we're moving toward a race war," he admitted. "I don't see that now. I see a pushback against Critical Race Theory and some of these other things, and so I'm excited about that. The other thing is, I feel like this is running out of steam. There's only so much guilt and self-flagellation that people can go through before they finally say, 'You know what, I'm tired.' I think we're at that point now."

"Ultimately," he added, "this is about power."