A Christian View of History?

by George M. Marsden (Editor), Frank Roberts (Editor)

Collection of essays by Christian historians arguing for an "application of Christianity to the study of history that is faithful both to biblical revelation and sound scholarship".(from editors)

Genres: History

202 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

George M. Marsden is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. He has written extensively on the interaction between Christianity and the American culture and has published numerous books, including Jonathan Edwards: A Life, which won the prestigious Bancroft Prize given for the best work of history. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic work of Christian historiography, published 50 years ago (1975), "the fruit of an ongoing dialogue within the Calvin College History Department on the subject of a Christian approach to the study of history" (9). At the time George Marsden was Professor of History at Calvin, along with Dale Van Kley and Howard Reinstra, and this volume added contributions from a half dozen additional historians. I love that the title ends with a question mark, unsettling some assumptions we might bring with us to the subject.

I got the book because I wanted to read Marsden's chapter, "A Christian Perspective for the Teaching of History," and indeed, it did not disappoint. I think I adhere almost entirely to Marsden's views here, which contain a healthy appreciation of our own human limitations, a skepticism of over-readings of Divine Providence in history, and a positive construction of the nature and purpose of the work. For example, "Love is the Christian's central obligation, and understanding is an essential ingredient in love. If we are going to love others, it seems evident that we should try our best to understand them." Hence, the work of history.

There's so much in Marsden's essay that is excellent, I'll limit myself to just another quote (minus the assumed masculinity of "The Historian"): "The Christian historian, like the non-Christian historian, does valuable service if he does no more than to clear the minds of his audience of some of the nonsense of the slogans and mythologies of his era" (45).

Part I continues with 4 more essays on Christian historiography; Part II shares three studies of historians who's work intersected with Christianity: Herbert Butterfield, Kenneth Scott Latourrette, and, and Herman Dooyeweerd.

The final essay was considered a classic survey at the time: "Christianity and History: A Bibliographical Essay" by M. Howard Rienstra. Indeed, it's a great overview of a number of works on the work of historians, the philosophy of history, and various theologies of history.

All in all, a lot of good stuff, and helpful for thinking about history.

[Thomas Mackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this set of essays to very useful to me at the beginning of my professional history studies. It started me on a life long pursuit for a balance between my Christianity and scholarship.