History

by Kelly Knowlden

How should a Christian view and value the study of history?

In 1828, Noah Webster penned this definition of history that gives a good starting place for such a discussion. “History is an account of facts, particularly of facts respecting nations or states; a narration of events in the order in which they happened, with their causes and effects. History regards less strictly the arrangement of events under each year, and admits the observations of the writer. This distinction is not always regarded with strictness...What is the history of nations, but a narrative of the follies, crimes and miseries of man?”

Scripture gives us a ‘behind the scenes’ understand- ing of that last statement. Psalm 78: 2-8 says that “I will utter things hidden from of old...things our fathers have told us....so the next generation would know them.. And they in turn would tell their children...Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds...”

Events that unfold must be viewed with the Sovereign God as the Author, Architect and Sustainer of nations and individuals with His purpose to have men seek Him. God’s unfolding of His story is such that while He superintends each step, yet He decrees all things so that man acts as a free agent, choosing and acting in accordance with his nature and without any constraints on his will.

The Chancellor of the German Empire from 1871- 1890, Otto von Bismarck, recognized this: “The statesman cannot create the stream of time, he can only navigate it. The statesman must try and reach for the hem when he hears the garment of God rustling through events.”

Job says it this way in ch.12: 19 and 23: “He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and disperses them.”

Our understanding of history is dependent upon others’ observations and biases. Good historians try to piece together a reliable account of what happened using information most consistent with the “feeling of the day.” Nothing is more provoking than the imposition of a modern mindset on the motives of why, for instance, the Pilgrims came to America. [They despoiled the land and ravaged the noble Native Americans.]

So at ICS, our students of history must learn to evaluate the sources and gain skills in ascertaining what “fits” with the mindset of the times. They must remember that God is the Author of His-story. They must seek Him and His wisdom to understand it.