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Punic Wars & Culture Wars: Christian Essays on History and Teaching
This book is designed for history teachers in Christian education, homeschoolers, pastors, and anyone engaged in the topic of how a Christian perspective is useful to understanding history. It includes studies of historical events, historians, and reviews of history books. It includes ideas for classroom implementation of Christian worldview thinking. It especially emphasizes classical Christian education and Reformed theology. Such thinkers as Augustine, Eusebius, Christopher Dawson, R.J. Rushdoony, Gregg Singer, and Otto Scott are examined in this work. The Christian impact on Western Civilization and the influence of Christianity on American history are both amply discussed. It also shows connections between history and literature and history and theology.
444 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 3, 2013
As other reviewers have noted, this is a very autobiographical book. But I found the story is largely my own, and I suspect many readers will find it is theirs as well. The book is an apologia for good books—particularly the study of history, theology, and literature. House is a history teacher and administrator at a Classical Christian School and has a wealth of experience in reading and teaching. Perhaps the best and most useful aspect of the book is the annotated bibliography in the back. Throughout the book he encourages his readers to read specific authors and names specific books, why to read them, and often gives brief reviews and discusses their significance.
Like most Americans, he was educated in the public schools, but unlike most, he was drawn into the world of serious Christian worldview thinking while in college. House’s path began with Loraine Boettner’s book The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination. This book opened up the world of Calvinism to House and brought him into contact (through books and in person) with a host of “who’s who” in Christian worldview thinking.
As House’s story develops he uses stories from history to demonstrate the importance of history and particularly how Christians should understand history. The essays on history cover things like the Punic Wars, Eusebius, Augustine, Irish monasticism, the Siege of Malta, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the Civil War (or as he calls it The War for Southern Independence), J. Gresham Machen, and Francis Schaeffer. He also writes brief biographical sketches of C. Gregg Singer, R.J. Rushdoony, Christopher Dawson, and Otto Scott.
House discovered that he had to relearn nearly everything he had ‘learned’ in the public schools. He lists part of the “consensual catechism of American education” on page 226. The lists includes “Greeks and Romans were good, creating democracy and ruling the ancient world”; “The Middle Ages were Dark Ages, in which freedom and science were suppressed”; “Puritans were witch burners, but Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were good”; “Democracy is always good, but Theocracy is dangerous to even consider”; “All Southerners in the War Between the States were bad, for they fought for slavery”; “FDR ended the Great Depression that Hoover started” and so on.
I resonated deeply with his recognition that he must re-learn what he learned in the public school system. He doesn’t blame anyone, or hold grudges, about this. In fact, he is very charitable, writing:
“Those of us in private Christian and especially classical Christian education are very critical of government schooling. The main reason we are so critical is because government schooling is so abysmally inept, so intellectually embarrassing, so socially debilitating, and so theologically corrupt; besides that it is okay. But we have to recognize that government schools have always included both salt and light Christian influences and common grace blessings of God. I received both. Rural and small town American schools, at least back in the 1960s and 1970s, were still dominated by churchgoing people. My parents, and their parents before them, worked hard to send their children to school. Only in time, have we been able, by standing on the shoulders of our parents, to see the need for Christian education, and in particular, classical Christian education.” P. 133
I think he’s right. Though public school has always been problematic, it has taken a while for Christians to awaken to the dismal state of the public school system. Like House, I’ve undergone my own period of reorienting myself to the world with a Christian worldview. I’ve been on the path for five years. Like House, it has not been a labor to me. I have enjoyed it immensely. It is as though the world is opening to me for the first time. I finally understand the world in accordance to the Word of God. Life makes much more sense to me. I have discovered a sense of purpose in the world that had eluded me for all my life.
The failure is my own. I had a very Platonic perspective—separating the material world from the spiritual world. I accepted the Word of God alongside the word of man. I drank deeply at the fountain of humanism in my youth and found what I thought was vigor and beauty. It is only now that I understand what I took for vigor was hubris, and beauty was lust.
But God, in his grace blessed me with wise parents and I did not fully appreciate this until much later in life. In my five year re-education, I found myself reading similar books to what my father read in his youth and the ideas themselves were familiar in a way that I knew my father had been there before me. House walked this same course and it is a joy to take the path with one who has gone on before me.
House has blazed a wide and pleasant path for those willing to follow. He’s left a great map full of great stories and great characters. This is a great book for young students, homeschooling parents, and teachers.
Like most Americans, he was educated in the public schools, but unlike most, he was drawn into the world of serious Christian worldview thinking while in college. House’s path began with Loraine Boettner’s book The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination. This book opened up the world of Calvinism to House and brought him into contact (through books and in person) with a host of “who’s who” in Christian worldview thinking.
As House’s story develops he uses stories from history to demonstrate the importance of history and particularly how Christians should understand history. The essays on history cover things like the Punic Wars, Eusebius, Augustine, Irish monasticism, the Siege of Malta, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the Civil War (or as he calls it The War for Southern Independence), J. Gresham Machen, and Francis Schaeffer. He also writes brief biographical sketches of C. Gregg Singer, R.J. Rushdoony, Christopher Dawson, and Otto Scott.
House discovered that he had to relearn nearly everything he had ‘learned’ in the public schools. He lists part of the “consensual catechism of American education” on page 226. The lists includes “Greeks and Romans were good, creating democracy and ruling the ancient world”; “The Middle Ages were Dark Ages, in which freedom and science were suppressed”; “Puritans were witch burners, but Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were good”; “Democracy is always good, but Theocracy is dangerous to even consider”; “All Southerners in the War Between the States were bad, for they fought for slavery”; “FDR ended the Great Depression that Hoover started” and so on.
I resonated deeply with his recognition that he must re-learn what he learned in the public school system. He doesn’t blame anyone, or hold grudges, about this. In fact, he is very charitable, writing:
“Those of us in private Christian and especially classical Christian education are very critical of government schooling. The main reason we are so critical is because government schooling is so abysmally inept, so intellectually embarrassing, so socially debilitating, and so theologically corrupt; besides that it is okay. But we have to recognize that government schools have always included both salt and light Christian influences and common grace blessings of God. I received both. Rural and small town American schools, at least back in the 1960s and 1970s, were still dominated by churchgoing people. My parents, and their parents before them, worked hard to send their children to school. Only in time, have we been able, by standing on the shoulders of our parents, to see the need for Christian education, and in particular, classical Christian education.” P. 133
I think he’s right. Though public school has always been problematic, it has taken a while for Christians to awaken to the dismal state of the public school system. Like House, I’ve undergone my own period of reorienting myself to the world with a Christian worldview. I’ve been on the path for five years. Like House, it has not been a labor to me. I have enjoyed it immensely. It is as though the world is opening to me for the first time. I finally understand the world in accordance to the Word of God. Life makes much more sense to me. I have discovered a sense of purpose in the world that had eluded me for all my life.
The failure is my own. I had a very Platonic perspective—separating the material world from the spiritual world. I accepted the Word of God alongside the word of man. I drank deeply at the fountain of humanism in my youth and found what I thought was vigor and beauty. It is only now that I understand what I took for vigor was hubris, and beauty was lust.
But God, in his grace blessed me with wise parents and I did not fully appreciate this until much later in life. In my five year re-education, I found myself reading similar books to what my father read in his youth and the ideas themselves were familiar in a way that I knew my father had been there before me. House walked this same course and it is a joy to take the path with one who has gone on before me.
House has blazed a wide and pleasant path for those willing to follow. He’s left a great map full of great stories and great characters. This is a great book for young students, homeschooling parents, and teachers.
August 28, 2013
This is a very interesting and helpful collection of essays for the Christian teacher, and especially the Christian history teacher. House is very widely read, and seems to consume books like a sponge (a quality I envy). The first two sections are especially poignant and inspiring reminders of our calling as Christian educators. Some of his historiography is suspect, and he has an annoying habit of taking information from somewhat questionable sources from time to time. He displays many of the tendencies of a Reconstructionist, but balances them better than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise. Even his view of the Southern History/Civil War was informative, though ultimately I thought it was a bit too hopeful in the recovery of the Bible Belt. Those problems aside he ends on the proper note of balancing the reality of our tasks in the face of a godless culture with proper Christian hope in the final resolution to all things.
That said, the book needed a proofreader (even I noticed), and much of the historiography is quite questionable. I am inclined to agree with another reviewer, who noted that "conservative Christians"..."always ends up being annoying [when they write about history], even when they're correct."
That said, the book needed a proofreader (even I noticed), and much of the historiography is quite questionable. I am inclined to agree with another reviewer, who noted that "conservative Christians"..."always ends up being annoying [when they write about history], even when they're correct."
October 20, 2009
I found this book a true delight. Will it turn my world upside down? Probably not. But it is thought provoking, especially concerning a Christian approach to history. Many great resources listed in the footnotes and bibliography. I will continue to see fruit from this book as I educate my children
September 14, 2020
The author (who is a FB friend) graciously gave me a free copy of this book since I've been involved in teaching history for the past few years (and since we both share one of the most sophisticated first names around). I've slowly worked my way through the book over the past six months and have found much to commend it. House does several things in this book. He offers historical windows into significant (but often overlooked) chapters of Western history and culture, giving particular attention to the historical influence of the Reformation, the development of American culture, and the contours of the American South. He also provides insight into the craft of teaching (drawing on his decades of experience) and sprinkles his chapters with discussion and review of useful books to help the reader along in the task of both learning and teaching history. He does all of this from a self-consciously and openly Christian point of view. As many other reviewers have noted, this is a very personal book. You don't walk away from reading a chapter without knowing exactly what Ben House thinks.
This is both a strength of the book and a weakness. It's a strength in that you feel less like you're reading an academic take on history and more like you're having a lively conversation with your high school history teacher. House is best when he plays this role - weaving tales of adventure and walking us through the lives of past heroes. However, some weaknesses emerge as House brings in his own theological, cultural, or political preferences in interpreting that history. He writes as a Southern, Theonomistic, Vantillian, Transformationalist, Reformed, Republican. This isn't bad in itself, and I would happily share some of those labels with him. But very few readers (myself included) would hold to all of them and the strong way he states some of his conclusions is bound to ruffle some feathers and dampen the enthusiasm of some readers. But perhaps this is not a weakness after all. A good teacher knows when to be provocative, and as long as the reader is wise enough to dialogue and disagree with the book the strong opinions stated at certain points can be useful to sharpen and shape wisdom in the reader.
Perhaps a bigger weakness is the length of the book. There is a lot of repetition between chapters, many digressions within chapters, and only a loose structure holding the 400+ pages together. Better editing would have whittled this down to a much more pointed (and probably much more profitable) 250+ pages. Still, for those who love history, those who teach history, and/or those who come from the same theological and cultural milieu as House, this is a book that is well worth picking up.
This is both a strength of the book and a weakness. It's a strength in that you feel less like you're reading an academic take on history and more like you're having a lively conversation with your high school history teacher. House is best when he plays this role - weaving tales of adventure and walking us through the lives of past heroes. However, some weaknesses emerge as House brings in his own theological, cultural, or political preferences in interpreting that history. He writes as a Southern, Theonomistic, Vantillian, Transformationalist, Reformed, Republican. This isn't bad in itself, and I would happily share some of those labels with him. But very few readers (myself included) would hold to all of them and the strong way he states some of his conclusions is bound to ruffle some feathers and dampen the enthusiasm of some readers. But perhaps this is not a weakness after all. A good teacher knows when to be provocative, and as long as the reader is wise enough to dialogue and disagree with the book the strong opinions stated at certain points can be useful to sharpen and shape wisdom in the reader.
Perhaps a bigger weakness is the length of the book. There is a lot of repetition between chapters, many digressions within chapters, and only a loose structure holding the 400+ pages together. Better editing would have whittled this down to a much more pointed (and probably much more profitable) 250+ pages. Still, for those who love history, those who teach history, and/or those who come from the same theological and cultural milieu as House, this is a book that is well worth picking up.
November 18, 2023
4.5 stars because this book is objectively excellent. Subjectively, - yes, I enjoyed it - but it was not particularly right for me (as the target audience). However, if your nonfiction/history want-to-read shelf is shrinking, work through this book and you'll double your reading list.
Also see my dad's review - he was the target audience and it shows. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Also see my dad's review - he was the target audience and it shows. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 7, 2009
Typical Ben House awesomeness.
But I think Americans, especially conservative Christians, should not be allowed to write about American history. They always ends up being annoying, even when they're correct.
But I think Americans, especially conservative Christians, should not be allowed to write about American history. They always ends up being annoying, even when they're correct.
January 20, 2009
Wonderful essays!
April 10, 2009
As a fan of history and Christian culture, I really enjoy this book. And the humor Ben reveals in Credenda/Agenda are apparent throughout.
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July 15, 2018This book is designed for history teachers in Christian education, homeschoolers, pastors, and anyone engaged in the topic of how a Christian perspective is useful to understanding history. It includes studies of historical events, historians, and reviews of history books. It includes ideas for classroom implementation of Christian worldview thinking. It especially emphasizes classical Christian education and Reformed theology. Such thinkers as Augustine, Eusebius, Christopher Dawson, R. J. Rushdoony, Gregg Singer, and Otto Scott are examined in this work. The Christian impact on Western Civilization and the influence of Christianity on American history are both amply discussed. It also shows connections between history and literature and history and theology
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews