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Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach
Why Is It Critical for Christians to Study the Past?
How does knowledge of the past shape Christians’ views of God, Christ’s redemption, and humanity as a whole? In his new book, Vern S. Poythress teaches Christians how to study and write about the past by emphasizing God’s own command to remember his works and share them with the next generation. Readers will explore concepts such as providentialism, Christian historiography, divine purpose, and the 4 basic phases of biblical history: creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. By learning how to appropriately study history, believers will begin to recognize God’s lordship over all events and how even minor incidents fit into his overarching plan.
Excellent Resource for Seminary Students, Pastors, and Historians: Poythress explains how to write about history, understand God’s divine purposes, explore history in the Bible, and more
Applicable: Teaches readers how to glorify God by recognizing his deeds throughout history
Biblical and Informative: Outlines 4 phases of history and connects them to Christ’s redemption
How does knowledge of the past shape Christians’ views of God, Christ’s redemption, and humanity as a whole? In his new book, Vern S. Poythress teaches Christians how to study and write about the past by emphasizing God’s own command to remember his works and share them with the next generation. Readers will explore concepts such as providentialism, Christian historiography, divine purpose, and the 4 basic phases of biblical history: creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. By learning how to appropriately study history, believers will begin to recognize God’s lordship over all events and how even minor incidents fit into his overarching plan.
Excellent Resource for Seminary Students, Pastors, and Historians: Poythress explains how to write about history, understand God’s divine purposes, explore history in the Bible, and more
Applicable: Teaches readers how to glorify God by recognizing his deeds throughout history
Biblical and Informative: Outlines 4 phases of history and connects them to Christ’s redemption
256 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 2022
11 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Vern Sheridan Poythress
75 books150 followersVern Sheridan Poythress was born in 1946 in Madera, California, where he lived with his parents Ransom H. Poythress and Carola N. Poythress and his older brother Kenneth R. Poythress. After teaching mathematics for a year at Fresno State College (now California State University at Fresno), he became a student at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he earned an M.Div. (1974) and a Th.M. in apologetics (1974). He received an M.Litt. in New Testament from University of Cambridge (1977) and a Th.D. in New Testament from the University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa (1981).
He has been teaching in New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia since 1976. In 1981 he was ordained as a teaching elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod, which has now merged with the Presbyterian Church in America.
More information about his teaching at Westminster can be found at the Westminster Seminary website.
Dr. Poythress studied linguistics and Bible translation at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Norman Oklahoma in 1971 and 1972, and taught linguistics at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in the summers of 1974, 1975, and 1977. He has published books on Christian philosophy of science, theological method, dispensationalism, biblical law, hermeneutics, Bible translation, and Revelation. A list of publications is found on this website.
Dr. Poythress married his wife Diane in 1983, and they have two children, Ransom and Justin. He has side interests in science fiction, string figures, volleyball, and computers.
The family lived on a farm until he was five years old. When he was nine years old he made a public commitment to Christ and was baptized in Chowchilla First Baptist Church, Chowchilla, California. The family later moved to Fresno, California, and he graduated from Bullard High School in Fresno.
He earned a B.S. in mathematics from California Institute of Technology (1966) and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University (1970).
He has been teaching in New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia since 1976. In 1981 he was ordained as a teaching elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod, which has now merged with the Presbyterian Church in America.
More information about his teaching at Westminster can be found at the Westminster Seminary website.
Dr. Poythress studied linguistics and Bible translation at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Norman Oklahoma in 1971 and 1972, and taught linguistics at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in the summers of 1974, 1975, and 1977. He has published books on Christian philosophy of science, theological method, dispensationalism, biblical law, hermeneutics, Bible translation, and Revelation. A list of publications is found on this website.
Dr. Poythress married his wife Diane in 1983, and they have two children, Ransom and Justin. He has side interests in science fiction, string figures, volleyball, and computers.
The family lived on a farm until he was five years old. When he was nine years old he made a public commitment to Christ and was baptized in Chowchilla First Baptist Church, Chowchilla, California. The family later moved to Fresno, California, and he graduated from Bullard High School in Fresno.
He earned a B.S. in mathematics from California Institute of Technology (1966) and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University (1970).
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 5, 2025
Really helpful book for understanding how Christians should engage with history and historical research
June 25, 2022
How should Christians think about the study of history? In this book, author Vern Poythress explores the biblical worldview as the foundation for history. Poythress has written on a biblical worldview for other areas of academic discipline such as philosophy, science, sociology and linguistics. Similar to his other works, in this book Poythress draws out implications from the contents of Scripture to discuss about the method of history. Arguing in the way of Cornelius Van Til’s Presuppositional Apologetics, Poythress also advocates that only the Triune Christian worldview can give an account of history in a way that makes it intelligible and meaningful.
The book has twenty six chapters grouped into five parts. The first chapter is on the importance of history, and then followed by part one, which consists of eight chapters, and is titled “What We Need in Order to Analyze History: Essential Resources That God Supplies.” Part two is titled, “History in the Bible: How the Bible Goes about Writing History” consisting of three chapters. Chapter twelve through eighteen is grouped under part three, “Understanding God's Purposes in History: Divine Purposes—and Our Limitations—in the Study of History.” The next three chapters is under part four, which is on “What Does History Writing Look Like? Examples of Challenges in Writing about Particular Periods.” The final five chapters make up part 5, “Alternative Versions of How to Think about History: Competing Ways of Doing History among Christians.”
There are other books out there on a Christian view of historiography. This one emphasizes more of the biblical content that shapes the study history. That’s one of the things I really like about Poythress. In addition, Poythress brings to bear his Perspectivalism with the discussion about history. Poythress notes that there are three dimensions within historical study: events, people and meaning. These “perspectives” (I prefer to call them dimensions) are inter-related and can’t be separated. They also correspond to John Frame’s discussion about perspectivalism with the normative, situational, and existential. Specifically, events correspond to the situational, people with the existential, and meaning with normative.
The most helpful discussion in the book is on the topic of the various ways Christians have chosen to pursue the study of history. In particular, Poythress defends Providentialism that actively and openly refers to God with the meaning of events. This might not be popular today; in fact Poythress interacts with others who disagree with his view. Even in the last few years, there have been books published on Christian and history, such as John Fea's Why Study History; which is critical and suspicious about openly talking about God’s providence in serious historical discussion. The last part of the book’s discussion about various historiography were critical, thoughtful and biblical. I also love how Poythress lands with his conclusion of how the various historiography aren’t necessarily in opposition with one another but can be seen as complementary “perspectives” of how to do history.
I recommend this book, it isn’t necessarily very controversial for those rooted in a biblical worldview and he did a good job bringing Scripture and reason to bear.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Crossway and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
The book has twenty six chapters grouped into five parts. The first chapter is on the importance of history, and then followed by part one, which consists of eight chapters, and is titled “What We Need in Order to Analyze History: Essential Resources That God Supplies.” Part two is titled, “History in the Bible: How the Bible Goes about Writing History” consisting of three chapters. Chapter twelve through eighteen is grouped under part three, “Understanding God's Purposes in History: Divine Purposes—and Our Limitations—in the Study of History.” The next three chapters is under part four, which is on “What Does History Writing Look Like? Examples of Challenges in Writing about Particular Periods.” The final five chapters make up part 5, “Alternative Versions of How to Think about History: Competing Ways of Doing History among Christians.”
There are other books out there on a Christian view of historiography. This one emphasizes more of the biblical content that shapes the study history. That’s one of the things I really like about Poythress. In addition, Poythress brings to bear his Perspectivalism with the discussion about history. Poythress notes that there are three dimensions within historical study: events, people and meaning. These “perspectives” (I prefer to call them dimensions) are inter-related and can’t be separated. They also correspond to John Frame’s discussion about perspectivalism with the normative, situational, and existential. Specifically, events correspond to the situational, people with the existential, and meaning with normative.
The most helpful discussion in the book is on the topic of the various ways Christians have chosen to pursue the study of history. In particular, Poythress defends Providentialism that actively and openly refers to God with the meaning of events. This might not be popular today; in fact Poythress interacts with others who disagree with his view. Even in the last few years, there have been books published on Christian and history, such as John Fea's Why Study History; which is critical and suspicious about openly talking about God’s providence in serious historical discussion. The last part of the book’s discussion about various historiography were critical, thoughtful and biblical. I also love how Poythress lands with his conclusion of how the various historiography aren’t necessarily in opposition with one another but can be seen as complementary “perspectives” of how to do history.
I recommend this book, it isn’t necessarily very controversial for those rooted in a biblical worldview and he did a good job bringing Scripture and reason to bear.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Crossway and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
May 12, 2022
Every person is a historian of sorts. Each person is not only a product of history but is also constantly interpreting it. “History,” according to Vern Poythress, “is indispensable in the Bible and in the Christian faith.” Such is the theme of the author’s most recent book, Redeeming Our Thinking About History: A God-Centered Approach.
The book is arranged in five parts:
1. What We Need in Order to Analyze History
2. History in the Bible
3. Understanding God’s Purposes in History
4. What Does History Writing Look Like?
5. Alternative Versions of How to Think About History
Part three is worth the price of the book as Dr. Poythress shows readers how God orchestrates historical events for his glory: “We believe from the Bible that God controls all of history. His purposes are present in everything that occurs. No events - even the smallest (Prov. 16:33; Matt. 10:29) - take place without his control over the causes.” The author also makes it clear that God operates via primary causation and secondary causation. Such a scheme enables God to ordain everything that comes to pass and also grants creatures the opportunity to exercise choices, which are always according to their strongest inclination.
The author reveals different ways to think about history. The model he commends is called Providentialism, which places God in a position of authority and divine purpose. He argues that Providentialism is supported in Scripture and gives us the responsibility for praising the work of his hands. It also reveals a God who is intimately involved in historical events - from the smallest to the greatest.
In the end, Redeeming Our Thinking About History accomplishes what it sets out to do. It helps establish the Christian mind and secure a God-centered approach to history. Such a theme is repeated in other works by Poythress that exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim his lordship over all things.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
The book is arranged in five parts:
1. What We Need in Order to Analyze History
2. History in the Bible
3. Understanding God’s Purposes in History
4. What Does History Writing Look Like?
5. Alternative Versions of How to Think About History
Part three is worth the price of the book as Dr. Poythress shows readers how God orchestrates historical events for his glory: “We believe from the Bible that God controls all of history. His purposes are present in everything that occurs. No events - even the smallest (Prov. 16:33; Matt. 10:29) - take place without his control over the causes.” The author also makes it clear that God operates via primary causation and secondary causation. Such a scheme enables God to ordain everything that comes to pass and also grants creatures the opportunity to exercise choices, which are always according to their strongest inclination.
The author reveals different ways to think about history. The model he commends is called Providentialism, which places God in a position of authority and divine purpose. He argues that Providentialism is supported in Scripture and gives us the responsibility for praising the work of his hands. It also reveals a God who is intimately involved in historical events - from the smallest to the greatest.
In the end, Redeeming Our Thinking About History accomplishes what it sets out to do. It helps establish the Christian mind and secure a God-centered approach to history. Such a theme is repeated in other works by Poythress that exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim his lordship over all things.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
February 1, 2025
Vern Poythress has a gift for writing books that are both theologically rich and deeply practical, and “Redeeming Our Thinking About History” is no exception. It is a short but dense work that tackles a fundamental question: How should Christians think about history? While historians and theologians alike wrestle with the meaning of historical events, Poythress reminds us that history is not just an academic pursuit. It is a theological reality, the unfolding of God’s providential purposes in time.
At its core, this book is about epistemology. How do we know what we know about the past? Poythress critiques the assumptions of secular historiography, which often operates as if God were absent from history, and instead offers a Trinitarian foundation for understanding historical events. For him, history is never neutral. It is shaped by God’s purposes, and our ability to understand it rightly depends on our submission to divine revelation. In a time when history is frequently wielded as a political tool rather than pursued as a search for truth, this is a necessary corrective.
A central argument of the book is that history cannot be fully understood apart from Christ. Drawing on John Frame’s triperspectivalism, which includes normative, situational, and existential perspectives, Poythress explores how our knowledge of the past is shaped by God’s word in a normative sense, the events themselves in a situational sense, and our own human limitations in an existential sense. He challenges the modern historian’s claim to neutrality, emphasizing that every historian operates from a worldview that inevitably shapes interpretation.
For pastors and teachers, this book provides a helpful framework for thinking about the relationship between history, theology, and pastoral ministry. If history is ultimately God’s story, then the church has a responsibility to tell it truthfully. While Poythress does not lay out a step by step methodology for writing history, he does offer a theological vision that can reorient how we think about the past.
That said, this book leans more philosophical than historical. Readers looking for a detailed critique of modern historiography or concrete case studies may find it lacking. But as a foundational work, it serves its purpose well. Poythress challenges us to see history as more than just a record of human events. It is the unfolding of God’s sovereign will.
I found this book particularly helpful as I work on my own historiography projects for school. Poythress clarifies some of the deeper theological assumptions that shape how we engage with the past. In a culture where history is often rewritten to fit ideological agendas, his work is a refreshing reminder that all history is ultimately His story.
At its core, this book is about epistemology. How do we know what we know about the past? Poythress critiques the assumptions of secular historiography, which often operates as if God were absent from history, and instead offers a Trinitarian foundation for understanding historical events. For him, history is never neutral. It is shaped by God’s purposes, and our ability to understand it rightly depends on our submission to divine revelation. In a time when history is frequently wielded as a political tool rather than pursued as a search for truth, this is a necessary corrective.
A central argument of the book is that history cannot be fully understood apart from Christ. Drawing on John Frame’s triperspectivalism, which includes normative, situational, and existential perspectives, Poythress explores how our knowledge of the past is shaped by God’s word in a normative sense, the events themselves in a situational sense, and our own human limitations in an existential sense. He challenges the modern historian’s claim to neutrality, emphasizing that every historian operates from a worldview that inevitably shapes interpretation.
For pastors and teachers, this book provides a helpful framework for thinking about the relationship between history, theology, and pastoral ministry. If history is ultimately God’s story, then the church has a responsibility to tell it truthfully. While Poythress does not lay out a step by step methodology for writing history, he does offer a theological vision that can reorient how we think about the past.
That said, this book leans more philosophical than historical. Readers looking for a detailed critique of modern historiography or concrete case studies may find it lacking. But as a foundational work, it serves its purpose well. Poythress challenges us to see history as more than just a record of human events. It is the unfolding of God’s sovereign will.
I found this book particularly helpful as I work on my own historiography projects for school. Poythress clarifies some of the deeper theological assumptions that shape how we engage with the past. In a culture where history is often rewritten to fit ideological agendas, his work is a refreshing reminder that all history is ultimately His story.
July 10, 2024
This is my second book on historical thinking/historiography by a Christian. Poythress is a systematician, so his biblical/philosophical insights into historiography are thought provoking and helpful, but I also remain skeptical because history isn’t his primary discipline. He argues for providentialism, and his argument for it is, again, thought provoking. His book is an interesting introduction to answering the question, “What does the Bible say about my doing history?” That being said, he doesn’t always seem to stay as on topic as he might otherwise be able to do. Overall, I would probably say there are a handful of chapters specifically that were helpful/worthy of returning to rather than the work as a whole.
May 15, 2022
A good concept that feels forced into a theme that already exists and it doesn’t fit quite right.
Author, Vern S. Poythress, has a series of books titled “Redeeming - (Math, Science, Sociology, Philosophy, etc). I haven’t read any of them but based on the titles, they seem more sciencey than the topic of History.
True to the subtitle, Poythress does employ a good deal of scripture and brings God to his explanations. My difficulty lies with the fact that many of his explanations are lacking a complete formula. It feels like
1+1+1=2.5 instead of 3 - I cannot think of another way to explain it. Some element is missing and it’s not the same piece from each argument. I’m unable to follow his reasoning to the same conclusion with the steps provided, altho’ I don’t disagree with the information provided. I’m not sure I’ve ever had this kind of experience before!
Basically reformed in its theological approach and erudite in presentation, I found “Redeeming Our Thinking About History” to be a challenging read on many levels. This book needs to be read again.
All things considered, an important topic but a challenging read📚
Author, Vern S. Poythress, has a series of books titled “Redeeming - (Math, Science, Sociology, Philosophy, etc). I haven’t read any of them but based on the titles, they seem more sciencey than the topic of History.
True to the subtitle, Poythress does employ a good deal of scripture and brings God to his explanations. My difficulty lies with the fact that many of his explanations are lacking a complete formula. It feels like
1+1+1=2.5 instead of 3 - I cannot think of another way to explain it. Some element is missing and it’s not the same piece from each argument. I’m unable to follow his reasoning to the same conclusion with the steps provided, altho’ I don’t disagree with the information provided. I’m not sure I’ve ever had this kind of experience before!
Basically reformed in its theological approach and erudite in presentation, I found “Redeeming Our Thinking About History” to be a challenging read on many levels. This book needs to be read again.
All things considered, an important topic but a challenging read📚
March 23, 2025
Unfortunately, my high hopes for this book were not met. I’ve never read a book that had so many words yet said very little. I felt like the author wasn’t really saying anything and just throwing words together to sound as if they were. Definitely skip this one.
August 1, 2024
I would’ve enjoyed this more if I was smarter
Read
February 9, 2023“Because God controls events and knows all about them, we cannot take a purely skeptical view of history, a view that there is no past but only human interpretations in the present.”, p. 32
May 27, 2022
“Above all, a Christian view takes into account who God is… God rules history. Moreover, he has a plan for history, a plan that encompasses its overall shape and all the details.”
So. I think I came to this book with wrong expectations and so I had to try harder to find my takeaways.
I enjoy history and was interested in how this book talked about history.
There are many voices today that are ‘re-writing’ history, so-to-speak, to fit a particular cultural narrative.
I thought this book would maybe address that. Or would speak about specific eras or historical events and how Christians should look at them. (I mean… look at the cover…)
Instead, Redeeming Our Thinking about History mostly just discussed how Christians, and more narrowly, Christian historians, ought to look at and write about history. In a very general sense.
To be honest, I’m not sure if I really gained any new knowledge. Since I’m not a historian and I don’t plan to analyze history academically, this book probably gave me more information than I felt like I needed. My perception of history is already to view it in terms of God’s sovereignty and his purposes, without making assumptions.
The general principles of the book seemed familiar to me and the nitty gritty details seemed superfluous.
I read some other reviews about this book and I had to chuckle a bit because I don’t think I’m the target audience for this book. I had no idea how to evaluate their critiques. So take my opinion with a grain of salt. I maybe shouldn’t be here…
I think for people who spend more of their time in history, this would be a valuable read.
Maybe my opinion would be different if I knew better what I was getting into.
I think it would have strengthened his book if he had done some sort case studies using particular historical events and shown us in practice what the various perspectives would say about them. Or shown us a comparison between a flawed analysis and a ‘redeemed’ analysis.
Some of the principles just felt too abstract or general.
The book flows through his three aspects of history: events, people, and meanings.
The chapters are divided into five parts:
1. What we need in order to analyze history
2. History in the Bible
3. Understanding God’s purposes in history
4. What does history writing look like?
5. Alternative versions of how to think about history
He advocates for a providentialist interpretation— which is studying God’s purposes in history. He discusses the arguments for and against this stance ultimately landing on this: The Bible’s revelations give us guidance to help us make judgements about God’s purposes even though our interpretations are subject to abuse or corruption of overconfidence, bias, etc. God gave us the Bible for many reasons, but one of them is to apply it to our lives. We just do our best with what we have and write/speak with humility.
I guess I found his arguments convincing. I didn’t have a stance on this before reading it so maybe it wasn’t too hard to persuade me.
There is some jargon in this book that I had to look up. I would say it’s a fairly academic book.
I mean, c’mon, he casually uses the words ‘supralaparianism’ and ‘infralapsarianism’ without any definitions or context clues! (If you’re curious now… here’s an explanation of these terms.)
He also kept referring to his analogy of a prayer chain and I think I missed the relevance when he first introduced it in the book so every time he brought it back up I was confused.
Oh, and I got a kick out of so many of his footnotes being references from his other books! Gotta love the confidence!
All of that to say, I will provide some things that I liked or took away from this book:
- I liked how he emphasized the importance of history and how God commands us many times to remember and think back on where we’ve been, where we’ve come from. Seeing God’s hand at work in the past, praising him for his works, past, present, and future, is a way to worship God. Keeping history fresh in our minds also reminds us of humanity’s capacity for evil and helps us to resist the arrogant thought that we are any better than humans past. Reading and remembering history increases our wisdom and enhances our view of God.
- I appreciated how he cautions us not to assume too much of God’s purposes. Even we’re seeking to view history through a biblical worldview in light of God’s redemption of humanity and with biblical foundations for morality, we still have fallible minds and biases that can affect our views and perceptions. God’s ways are higher than ours and we cannot know all of his ways. Especially about historical events outside of the Bible in which God has not explicitly revealed his purposes.
- It’s interesting to think about how, truly, no person interpreting history is doing so neutrally. A lot of history deals with human motivations and what you believe about morality and humanity influence how you think about motivations. It would be hard to defend the idea that any analysis of history is actually neutral. Everyone worships. If it’s not God, it’s a substitute for him.
- He talks about how events, people, and meanings are all in harmony when we believe in a personal God who controls everything. But for non-Christian historians, that harmony dissipates if they remove God from the equation.
Conclusion
If you are studying to be a historian or plan to write about history, definitely read this book.
If you enjoy thinking about history, you will probably enjoy most of this book.
If you want an in-depth look at specific historical periods, events, and people viewed through a Christian worldview, you will not find that here.
It was not a bad book, but I feel like it’s a niche book. I’m not saying ‘don’t read this,’ but I will say, that you may find it hard to get through if you’re not really interested in the subject matter.
He teaches this material in his college course, so I wouldn’t say it’s a super accessible, everyone-should-read-this kind of book.
This was my first Poythress book, and I would say I would probably try another one of his books, but I’ll do a little more research before I pick the next one.
Some Quotes:
“The Bible does give us a framework for the whole of history. This framework is there even when we do not explicitly acknowledge it… Every event has significance not only because of God’s plan, which lies at the origin, but because of God’s purpose for the end. Every event contributes to a process leading to an end, the consummation in Christ, the new heaven and the new earth. Every historian has a background in a conception of universal history, because without some universal, meanings dissolve into pure subjectivity.”
“Christians must be on guard against merely drifting along with what “everyone else” does in writing history. The fact that omission of God is common, and the fact that this omission is superficially like the book of Esther, does not amount to saying that it is healthy. Surely it is not, because in many cases the underlying motivation is to suppress the presence of God— across the board.”
“Neutralist advocates of Enlightenment history writing oppose Christian history writings because it brings in religious bias. Marxists oppose Christian history writing because it is deemed to be a mistake to think that there is a God…. Social-justice advocates oppose Christian history writing because it does not automatically and unreservedly take the side of the oppressed. Postmodernists oppose Christian history writing because, according to their viewpoint, it dogmatically claims to know things about God that no one can actually know because of the social, epistemically, and linguistic constraints of humanity.”
“We affirm the value of diverse perspectives— though not the value of the claim that truth is merely relative to each observer.”
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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So. I think I came to this book with wrong expectations and so I had to try harder to find my takeaways.
I enjoy history and was interested in how this book talked about history.
There are many voices today that are ‘re-writing’ history, so-to-speak, to fit a particular cultural narrative.
I thought this book would maybe address that. Or would speak about specific eras or historical events and how Christians should look at them. (I mean… look at the cover…)
Instead, Redeeming Our Thinking about History mostly just discussed how Christians, and more narrowly, Christian historians, ought to look at and write about history. In a very general sense.
To be honest, I’m not sure if I really gained any new knowledge. Since I’m not a historian and I don’t plan to analyze history academically, this book probably gave me more information than I felt like I needed. My perception of history is already to view it in terms of God’s sovereignty and his purposes, without making assumptions.
The general principles of the book seemed familiar to me and the nitty gritty details seemed superfluous.
I read some other reviews about this book and I had to chuckle a bit because I don’t think I’m the target audience for this book. I had no idea how to evaluate their critiques. So take my opinion with a grain of salt. I maybe shouldn’t be here…
I think for people who spend more of their time in history, this would be a valuable read.
Maybe my opinion would be different if I knew better what I was getting into.
I think it would have strengthened his book if he had done some sort case studies using particular historical events and shown us in practice what the various perspectives would say about them. Or shown us a comparison between a flawed analysis and a ‘redeemed’ analysis.
Some of the principles just felt too abstract or general.
The book flows through his three aspects of history: events, people, and meanings.
The chapters are divided into five parts:
1. What we need in order to analyze history
2. History in the Bible
3. Understanding God’s purposes in history
4. What does history writing look like?
5. Alternative versions of how to think about history
He advocates for a providentialist interpretation— which is studying God’s purposes in history. He discusses the arguments for and against this stance ultimately landing on this: The Bible’s revelations give us guidance to help us make judgements about God’s purposes even though our interpretations are subject to abuse or corruption of overconfidence, bias, etc. God gave us the Bible for many reasons, but one of them is to apply it to our lives. We just do our best with what we have and write/speak with humility.
I guess I found his arguments convincing. I didn’t have a stance on this before reading it so maybe it wasn’t too hard to persuade me.
There is some jargon in this book that I had to look up. I would say it’s a fairly academic book.
I mean, c’mon, he casually uses the words ‘supralaparianism’ and ‘infralapsarianism’ without any definitions or context clues! (If you’re curious now… here’s an explanation of these terms.)
He also kept referring to his analogy of a prayer chain and I think I missed the relevance when he first introduced it in the book so every time he brought it back up I was confused.
Oh, and I got a kick out of so many of his footnotes being references from his other books! Gotta love the confidence!
All of that to say, I will provide some things that I liked or took away from this book:
- I liked how he emphasized the importance of history and how God commands us many times to remember and think back on where we’ve been, where we’ve come from. Seeing God’s hand at work in the past, praising him for his works, past, present, and future, is a way to worship God. Keeping history fresh in our minds also reminds us of humanity’s capacity for evil and helps us to resist the arrogant thought that we are any better than humans past. Reading and remembering history increases our wisdom and enhances our view of God.
- I appreciated how he cautions us not to assume too much of God’s purposes. Even we’re seeking to view history through a biblical worldview in light of God’s redemption of humanity and with biblical foundations for morality, we still have fallible minds and biases that can affect our views and perceptions. God’s ways are higher than ours and we cannot know all of his ways. Especially about historical events outside of the Bible in which God has not explicitly revealed his purposes.
- It’s interesting to think about how, truly, no person interpreting history is doing so neutrally. A lot of history deals with human motivations and what you believe about morality and humanity influence how you think about motivations. It would be hard to defend the idea that any analysis of history is actually neutral. Everyone worships. If it’s not God, it’s a substitute for him.
- He talks about how events, people, and meanings are all in harmony when we believe in a personal God who controls everything. But for non-Christian historians, that harmony dissipates if they remove God from the equation.
Conclusion
If you are studying to be a historian or plan to write about history, definitely read this book.
If you enjoy thinking about history, you will probably enjoy most of this book.
If you want an in-depth look at specific historical periods, events, and people viewed through a Christian worldview, you will not find that here.
It was not a bad book, but I feel like it’s a niche book. I’m not saying ‘don’t read this,’ but I will say, that you may find it hard to get through if you’re not really interested in the subject matter.
He teaches this material in his college course, so I wouldn’t say it’s a super accessible, everyone-should-read-this kind of book.
This was my first Poythress book, and I would say I would probably try another one of his books, but I’ll do a little more research before I pick the next one.
Some Quotes:
“The Bible does give us a framework for the whole of history. This framework is there even when we do not explicitly acknowledge it… Every event has significance not only because of God’s plan, which lies at the origin, but because of God’s purpose for the end. Every event contributes to a process leading to an end, the consummation in Christ, the new heaven and the new earth. Every historian has a background in a conception of universal history, because without some universal, meanings dissolve into pure subjectivity.”
“Christians must be on guard against merely drifting along with what “everyone else” does in writing history. The fact that omission of God is common, and the fact that this omission is superficially like the book of Esther, does not amount to saying that it is healthy. Surely it is not, because in many cases the underlying motivation is to suppress the presence of God— across the board.”
“Neutralist advocates of Enlightenment history writing oppose Christian history writings because it brings in religious bias. Marxists oppose Christian history writing because it is deemed to be a mistake to think that there is a God…. Social-justice advocates oppose Christian history writing because it does not automatically and unreservedly take the side of the oppressed. Postmodernists oppose Christian history writing because, according to their viewpoint, it dogmatically claims to know things about God that no one can actually know because of the social, epistemically, and linguistic constraints of humanity.”
“We affirm the value of diverse perspectives— though not the value of the claim that truth is merely relative to each observer.”
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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March 7, 2022
This is the only book by Vern Poythress I have ever read but it makes me wonder about the other "Redeeming" books in the series. If the other books are like this one, then it reads like a guy who has an analytical tool or framework, which he applies to philosophy, science, mathematics, sociology and history. And there is nothing wrong with that, it's good that we can develop and learn new ways of seeing things.
In the case of this book, he sets up the case and fails to deliver. It's just missing one ingredient, show us how it's done right. Unless it's never been done right before. If true, then is Providentialism just nice in theory but impossible in practice?
Poythress makes the audacious claim that this is a God-centred Approach. That's an oversell. That's why I expected more. If anything, this book should be titled, A Providence Centred Approach. It would be less audacious and more accurate to the thesis of the book.
Has this book redeemed my thinking on history? When I was watching the documentary, "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing", Poythress was right in saying we everyone, Christians, non-Christians do inject a moral view in our history. We need to find a villain in the story. So secular history is not absent of morality, it's just absent of religious morality.
When I read on the five views of how to think about history, I was thinking how "Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History" by John Dickson, ticked all the boxes.
So despite my criticism, Poythress' book has challenged my thinking on history. The writing is accessible and he clearly wants to set his thoughts on biblical foundations. I just wished he had fully answered the question he posed, "How can we describe God's purposes in history, specifically non-Biblical and non-Christian history?"
Full 2,781 word review here: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
In the case of this book, he sets up the case and fails to deliver. It's just missing one ingredient, show us how it's done right. Unless it's never been done right before. If true, then is Providentialism just nice in theory but impossible in practice?
Poythress makes the audacious claim that this is a God-centred Approach. That's an oversell. That's why I expected more. If anything, this book should be titled, A Providence Centred Approach. It would be less audacious and more accurate to the thesis of the book.
Has this book redeemed my thinking on history? When I was watching the documentary, "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing", Poythress was right in saying we everyone, Christians, non-Christians do inject a moral view in our history. We need to find a villain in the story. So secular history is not absent of morality, it's just absent of religious morality.
When I read on the five views of how to think about history, I was thinking how "Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History" by John Dickson, ticked all the boxes.
So despite my criticism, Poythress' book has challenged my thinking on history. The writing is accessible and he clearly wants to set his thoughts on biblical foundations. I just wished he had fully answered the question he posed, "How can we describe God's purposes in history, specifically non-Biblical and non-Christian history?"
Full 2,781 word review here: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
December 28, 2023
Vern Poythress (b. 1946) has two doctorates, one in math and another in religion, but to my knowledge, he has never written any history. So, this book takes up residence in philosophical clouds and has little relevance to how historians write actual history: that is, constantly thinking about how their storytelling will strike potential publishers and readers.
Although the book has few concrete illustrations, Poythress does reference a major controversy at Westminster Seminary that occurred in the late 1970s: “what strikes me with overwhelming force is how little I know. I was a full participant, and yet I find so much that I cannot fully explain. The extensive character of my participation results in making me more aware of the complexities and mysterious depth that belong to even a single person…. The point is that no one except God himself understands thoroughly even a comparatively small piece of history.” (26) I agree. That’s one reason why it’s so difficult for a non-historian to get a handle on historiography.
Although the book has few concrete illustrations, Poythress does reference a major controversy at Westminster Seminary that occurred in the late 1970s: “what strikes me with overwhelming force is how little I know. I was a full participant, and yet I find so much that I cannot fully explain. The extensive character of my participation results in making me more aware of the complexities and mysterious depth that belong to even a single person…. The point is that no one except God himself understands thoroughly even a comparatively small piece of history.” (26) I agree. That’s one reason why it’s so difficult for a non-historian to get a handle on historiography.
March 26, 2022
Reading this book about being interpreting meaning in history of God’s actions in a providential perspective was precisely a providential timing to read for me. It was the final piece in what has been a long journey of how to discern God’s work in time and to have an incredible academic offer such a possibility is profound and I hope embraced by many. There was instance after instance of significant marking as I read including when he traces the error in current history teaching as being detailed by the Enlightenment which I couldn’t agree more with. Additionally, I also so appreciated how very balanced approach in acknowledging where a providential perspective can go wrong and how to guard against it in wisdom and humility. He is a saturated theologian speaking into history when sadly most of the time history is detached from theology. There is a far biggest story for why this is meaningful to me, however that’s for another time.
November 8, 2024
Poythress helpfully charts out various ways of doing history as a Christian. These are biblical through and through. I wished his view of providential history had a clear example. How can we interpret God’s providential hand in the Reformation, the dawning of Christ’s Incarnation, or the founding of America? His examples given focus primarily on ethical examples of history.
Furthermore, a Christian way of doing history should also taken into account Christian virtues in historian. This minimizes reduction in that historians read people in the time sympathetically as an act of love, seek the truth, and have a sober understanding of human depravity. The book would be strengthened with more substantive sections on these issues.
However, the book was helpful in describing and harmonizing various biblical approaches.
Furthermore, a Christian way of doing history should also taken into account Christian virtues in historian. This minimizes reduction in that historians read people in the time sympathetically as an act of love, seek the truth, and have a sober understanding of human depravity. The book would be strengthened with more substantive sections on these issues.
However, the book was helpful in describing and harmonizing various biblical approaches.
December 3, 2022
A good book, but not great.
Poythress argues that history entails a triple perspective of people, events, and meanings and he seeks to advance several ways in which this is informed by a Christian worldview. He defends a moderated providentialism, but that’s about all that’s noteworthy. The book’s biggest weakness (other than presup) is that it is very in-bred: VP interacts a lot with himself and Frame, but not with many others except Jay Green. Thus, it falls prey to a common trap of “worldview” books in that it looks too much at its glasses and not enough through them.
Poythress argues that history entails a triple perspective of people, events, and meanings and he seeks to advance several ways in which this is informed by a Christian worldview. He defends a moderated providentialism, but that’s about all that’s noteworthy. The book’s biggest weakness (other than presup) is that it is very in-bred: VP interacts a lot with himself and Frame, but not with many others except Jay Green. Thus, it falls prey to a common trap of “worldview” books in that it looks too much at its glasses and not enough through them.
January 3, 2023
This book someone was at the same time too organized and not organized enough. He obviously has a clear outline of what he is going to say, but at certain times his paradigm is either confusing, unnecessary, or overly wordy. And then it seems at other points like the outline was a bit hap-hazard, responding to other authors rather than expressing his own ideas in the ideal form.
That said, there were quite a few helpful things in here. I wish he had discussed more about what implication the OT prophets have on our study and analysis of history today.
That said, there were quite a few helpful things in here. I wish he had discussed more about what implication the OT prophets have on our study and analysis of history today.
February 23, 2022
This is more a book about providence than it is about history and historiography. Poythress wants to investigate how we can recognize and understand God's hand in history, but he doesn't seem interested in providing much guidance or many answers. Like with most of Poythress' works, I found myself scratching my head again and again, wondering what the relevance was, where the payoff was to be found.
August 15, 2023
Orthodoxy and precision are what I love about anything Poythress writes.
As a poet who loves word play, I find his spare, lucid prose almost breath-catching, like clear mountain air for the mind after rambling in a flowery tropical garden. No flowers here, just keen snow-bright logic, in this case on the topic of history. Good for thought.
As a poet who loves word play, I find his spare, lucid prose almost breath-catching, like clear mountain air for the mind after rambling in a flowery tropical garden. No flowers here, just keen snow-bright logic, in this case on the topic of history. Good for thought.
January 27, 2026
Some helpful insights and analysis about how to view, study, and even write history. Poythress is a skilled thinker and ably approaches this subject. I found the writing a bit drawn out and surprisingly tedious in places. This had the potential of a good book yet it lacks punch and could have been stated much more succinctly.
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