Why History is Important

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana

Roy Hershberger

If we lack a solid historical perspective will we be more inclined to influence the future in an undesirable direction? Probably so, because the knowledge of the past can prevent us from making the same mistakes others have already made. There is virtually no debate about the fact that if we understand the past we are much better equipped to positively influence the future. Unfortunately, the American public school system has not been doing a very good job of giving our citizens the historical knowledge they need to avoid the mistakes of the past.
     For example, a popular method of social studies is to start out teaching the student about themselves, then progress into an ever broadening circle outward toward school, community, hometown, county, state, country, etc.. The reasoning behind such a method is that starting with what is most familiar to the child and working out from there is the most logical progression.
     Such a method does sound reasonable on first impressions but there is a downside. It has a tendancy to reinforce the idea that children already have from birth, that the world revolves around them. Certainly self-centeredness is not the intent of this type of teaching yet it may be the unintended result. What this approach lacks is an emphasis on an overarching view of time and human activity that helps the student realize that he or she is only a part of a much bigger event, the progression of human history.
     Our public school system also has a tendency to present history in a vacuum. Students are seldom taught how the events of the past are still affecting their lives today. Within the secular education system this is often enhanced by leaving out certain parts of the story. Children grow up with little or no understanding of how Western civilization developed or what ideas gave birth to it.
     One of the most important elements of Western development is our religious history. In an overly secularized context, where the concept behind the separation of church and state is misunderstood and taken to an extreme, such subject matter is considered taboo and purposely left out of the curriculum. On the rare occasions that it is allowed it is often discussed from a negative perspective. But as university of Notre Dame historian George Marsden states: American history “recounted without its religious history... is like Moby Dick without the whale.”
     How can students in such an environment ever be expected to grow up and participate effectively in the further development of our society? With an incomplete historical context they will lack the perspective in which to make wise choices that will effect the history that has yet to be written. Without a historical perspective a prosperous and basically peaceful society will tend to grow complacent, apathetic, and adrift from reality. Americas historical illiteracy combined with its great success worked to shield us from the real world; we became dull to its potential pitfalls. As a result we were set up for certain inevitable consequences. Unfortunately, it took a wake up call to steer us back toward reality.
     My daughters were eight and nine years old on September 11th, 2001. They have recently told me that 9/ll was like waking up from a dream. All at once the world became more starkly real. The harshness of earthy existance began to sink in and the presence of evil in the world became palpable. The danger and evil portrayed in some of their favorite stories such as The Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia became more serious and closer to home. They suddenly realized that real life is more like such literary fantasy then they had previously realized. They have found themselves in the midst of a real life story with real evil that must be confronted and overcome.
     Much of human history is about tragic events, wars, famine, and disaster. Such things change the direction of humanity. When we live through such times we start to realize that life is serious business, and though much of the West currently lives in a rather prosperous, dreamlike condition we must be aware that history is waiting to judge us. The decisions we make will determine the future drama as it plays out. We can not afford to spend all our time, and money on selfish, trivial, dreamy pursuits. But if we lack a historical perspective we are likely to do just that. Our motivation and interests will tend to be centered on ourselves rather than the big picture.
     Sadly Christians are not much better off in this respect. We also have a tendency to build our Christianity around our immediate experiences. We look out at the world through the confines of our religious subculture which has been bathed repeatedly in the muddied waters of popular culture. We have not been taught to see the big picture and we do not understand or relate to the larger context of our historical existence. Instead we tend to be focused on spiritual self-improvement, a worthy goal perhaps, yet without the broader picture helping to move such desires toward a purposeful end the result may actually be spiritual self-centeredness. A spirituality without the big picture becomes only about what's going on inside of me or my little religious sect rather then what God is doing in the greater historical context of the world.
     Understanding this has led my wife and I to gravitate toward what has been called the Classical Education method of teaching our children. What Classical Education attempts to do is to help the student see him or herself within the context of history. It attempts to show the child that they are stepping into a great drama much bigger then themselves - a drama that they can become a part of - a drama that they have an indispensable role to play in no matter how small or insignificant that part may seem.
     We try to reinforce this by teaching history not just as a series of dates and events but as a great and exciting story filled with interesting characters who sometimes play the role of heroes and sometimes the role of villains. We work at showing how these characters by their beliefs, actions, and the decisions they made helped to shape the landscape of human existance as we know it today.
     Through this process the child will hopefully start to see certain pattens emerge. They will start to understand that it is no accident that Western civilization has risen to the heights that it has, nor is it incidental that we are now in danger of slipping from those heights. They will see that all ideas about truth and reality that have existed through the ages end with certain and predictable results. They will start to recognize the great ideas that have led to great civilizations and which of those ideas has resulted in the greater good of all mankind. They will start to realize that Truth is discernable by the fruit it bears.
     A couple examples of this can be seen in Greek history. Strangely enough one of the reasons that Christianity grew so quickly in the first two centuries after Christ was that the Roman empire was saturated with Greek philosophy. At the heart of Greek thinking was the concept of the “idea,” or as the Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines it a “rational governing principle of the universe”. Greek philosophy was all about the seeking of this ultimate “idea.” The philosophers would often refer to it as the “word”, or in Greek “logos.” When John starts his gospel by refering to Christ as the “Word” (Greek “Logos”) he was basically telling the civilized world that Jesus was the fulfilment of this idea that they had been seeking for centuries.
     When Mark wrote his gospel (the gospel that both Matthew and Luke are based upon) some scholars believe he was writing a story that was meant to replace the Iliad. Up to that point if there were any books that the Greeks looked to for understanding and guidance it was the work of Homer exemplified in the story of Odysseus. In the Gospel of Mark, Odysseus is replaced by Jesus as the ultimate example of wisdom, virtue, and honor, even stepping to a higher plain by actually claiming to be the embodiment of Truth itself. Every character in the book of the Iliad gives way to a new character in the book of Mark. Mark, being half Greek himself, understood the historical context of his existance. He recognized the story he had been placed into, and he was familiar with the philosophical underpinnings of his culture. Because of this he was able to write a book about the life of Christ that powerfully persuaded that culture toward accepting him as the perfect example of what was right, true, and real.
     John and Mark's historical discernment was highly instrumental in Christianity overtaking the civilized world within the incredibly brief period of only two centuries. They had a vision for the future because they understood the past.
     The study of the past will also help us to realize that Jesus was born at just the right time. His presence, at a precise historical moment, turned the world on it's head almost overnight. We see that Jesus was the greatest most significant character of all time having more of a positive effect on human events then any historical figure before or since. He purposely stepped into the drama of history in order to move the story toward a brighter future of hope and purpose.
     With a well rounded and accurate historical perspective we too can find that place and purposely step into our own part in the story. Like Jesus we are given the opportunity to lay down our self interests and take part in something much bigger then ourselves. Like John and Mark, we will be more likely to recognize opportunity when it presents itself, and use those opportunities to help shape the future.

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