In the Vale of Tears brings to a culmination the project for a renewed and enlivened debate over the interaction between Marxism and religion. The book simultaneously draws upon the rich insights of a significant number of Western Marxists and strikes out on its own. Thus, it argues for the crucial role of political myth on the Left; explores the political ambivalence at the heart of Christianity; challenges the bent among many on the Left to favour the unexpected rupture of kairos as a key to revolution. The conclusion to the series 'The Criticism of Heaven and Earth'.