Chronological History

Sometimes we speak of world history as though it belongs to people. It doesn't—it belongs to God, and though people play prominently within the historical narrative, it always remains under God's auspices and control. The problem with losing the right perspective isn't that we'll get the facts wrong, it's that we'll fail to understand what they mean, what the purpose of past events is, and what we can look forward to.

Human history began all at once in the same place: the Garden of Eden, where God made Adam and Eve as the crown of all Creation. He told them to fill the earth and take dominion of it, and He also told them not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They ate the fruit anyway, and mankind was removed from paradise and introduced to tension, pain, and resistance.

The story of the world is in many ways simply the story of adversity. For the enemies of God, it's adversity in the form of the failure and futility of purely human endeavor; for God's people, it's the story of fighting for the truth against secular philosophies, fighting for holiness despite the pervasiveness of sin, and fighting for the Gospel in the face of persecution and death.

Jesus Christ is our only hope. He is the Prince of Peace, the defeater of Death, and the King of the Universe, the saver of souls and the punisher of wickedness. His kingdom is the restoration and glorious fulfillment of the paradise from which Adam and Eve were removed, and we work, wait, hope and pray for the quick fulfillment of His will in all things.

This is our framework for history. While it's important to study things like the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the ancient Near East, it's only important when investigated through the lens of God's ultimate sovereignty and plan. The story of mankind is the story of redemption, and only when we analyze battles, kings, treaties, and catastrophes from God's perspective can we truly make sense of them.

Otherwise, it's all fairly irrelevant and useless. Sure, there's Napoleon's dictum that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, but a quick survey of the past will show that each successive generation does repeat the sins of their fathers, and that without Christ's real physical life on Earth as a centering point, there's no real cause for optimism or hope of any kind.

Christ's love not only makes the trajectory of history cause for hope; it reveals the truly great moments of the past, events that to the secular eye seem insignificant or even pernicious. We're speaking of the progress of the true Church, of course, and of each soul that God calls and makes His own through the agency of His Holy Spirit. These are the milestones we look for and celebrate.

We carry a lot of world history products. Because it's the story of God's work in the world and our human responses, we believe it's important to know and understand. Not everything we carry is Christian; there are plenty of secular resources here. We encourage you to use whichever ones work best for your situation, but that you do so with a view to understanding the will and work of the One who made history in the first place.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
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Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
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Benazir Bhutto
by Englar, Mary
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Betsy Ross and the Silver Thimble
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Boy on the Wooden Box
by Leon Leyson
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Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
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Christopher Columbus
Sowers Series
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Courage to Run
Daughters of the Faith
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Daniel Boone
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Davy Crockett, Young Pioneer
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Did It Take Creativity to Find Relativity, Albert Einstein?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin & Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
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Douglas Macarthur: American Hero
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Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky
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Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
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Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro
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Father to Nobody's Children
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Fine Print
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For God and Country
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Freedom Walkers
by Russell Freedman
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2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Galileo for Kids
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George Washington
by James Giblin & Michael Dooling
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George Washington Carver
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
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Gold Cadillac
by Mildred D. Taylor
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Gold Cadillac
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Heart Strangely Warmed
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Hiding Place - Young Reader's Edition
by Corrie Ten Boom, abridged by Lonnie Hull DuPont, illustrated by Tim Foley
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Ice Bound
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If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
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Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King
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In Their Own Words: Christopher Columbus
by Peter & Connie Roop
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Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion
by Andrea Gianopoulos
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J. Pierpont Morgan
by Michael Burgan
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Jesse Jackson
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Joan of Arc
DK Biographies
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John Audubon
Young Patriots series
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Journey That Saved Curious George
by Louise W. Borden
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Juliette Low, Girl Scout Founder
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Kid's Guide to African American History
by Nancy I. Sanders
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Leonardo da Vinci
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
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1997 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Leonardo da Vinci
by Norman V. Marshall
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Life of Washington
by Josephine Pollard
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Listening to Crickets
by Candice F. Ransom
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Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
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Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
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Man Who Laid the Egg
by Louise Vernon
from Greenleaf Press
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Marco Polo: Voyager to the Orient
by Carol Greene
from Houghton Mifflin
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Marie Curie's Search for Radium
by Beverley Birch
from Barron's
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Martyn Lloyd-Jones: From Wales to Westminster
by Christopher Catherwood
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Mary Slessor
Women of Faith
by Basil Miller
from Bethany House
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Michelangelo
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Michelangelo
by Ernest Raboff
from HarperTrophy
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Michelangelo
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
Picture Book Biographies for 4th-6th grade
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Mysterious Journey
by Martha Wickham
from Soundprints
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Mystery On Everest
by George Mallory
from National Geographic
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Naya Nuki
by Kenneth Thomasma
from Baker Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes
by Beverly Birch
from Barron's
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Picture Book of Harriet Tubman
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
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Portraits of African-American Heroes
by Tonya Bolden
from Puffin Books
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Revolutionary John Adams
by Cheryl Harness
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Sacajawea
by Joseph Bruchac
from Graphia
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Secret Soldier
by Ann McGovern
1st Edition Trade Paperback from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Seneca Chief, Army General
Creative Minds Biographies
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, illustrated by Karen Ritz
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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Shipwrecked!
by Rhoda Blumberg
from HarperCollins
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Simon Bolivar
by Frank De Varona
from Houghton Mifflin
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Stories of the Nations: Volume 2
by Charles Morris, Lorene Lambert
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in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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$7.50 (4 in stock)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
Second Edition from Avyx, Inc.
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Teresa of Calcutta
Sowers Series
by D. Jeanene Watson, illustrated by Robert E. Lawson
from Mott Media
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Thomas Jefferson
by Cheryl Harness
Reprint from National Geographic
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Thunderstorm in Church
by Louise Vernon
from Herald Press
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
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Tinker's Daughter
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99 $5.50 (2 in stock)
Triumph on Everest
by Broughton Coburn
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Walking the Road to Freedom
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
We'll Race You, Henry
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Westward With Columbus
by John Dyson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened in Ancient Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
Revised from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened In Colonial Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened In Colonial Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
Revised from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Who Is Neil Armstrong?
by Roberta Edwards
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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Who Was Abraham Lincoln?
Who Was?...Series
by Janet Pascal
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Who Was Alexander Graham Bell?
Who Was?...Series
by Bonnie Bader
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Who Was Anne Frank?
Who Was?...Series
by Ann Abramson & Nancy Harrison (Illustrator)
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who Was Ben Franklin?
Who Was?...Series
by Dennis Brindell Fradin
from Grosset & Dunlap
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who Was Confucius?
Who Was?...Series
by Michael Burgan, illustrated by Robert Squier
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Davy Crockett?
Who Was?...Series
by Gail Herman, illustrated by Robert Squier
from Grosset & Dunlap
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Frederick Douglass?
Who Was?...Series
by April Jones Prince, illustrated by Robert Squier
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was George Washington Carver?
Who Was?...Series
by Jim Gigliotti, illustrated by Stephen Marchesi
from Grosset & Dunlap
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in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Harriet Tubman?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough, illustrated by Nancy Harrison
Revised from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Helen Keller?
Who Was?...Series
by Gare Thompson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who Was Jesse Owens?
Who Was?...Series
by James Buckley, Jr., illustrated by Gregory Copeland
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Jim Henson?
Who Was?...Series
by Joan Holub, Illustrated by Nancy Harrison
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Rosa Parks?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough, Illustrated by Stephen Marchesi
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Who Was Susan B. Anthony?
Who Was?...Series
by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso, illustrated by Mike Lacey
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Thomas Alva Edison?
Who Was?...Series
by Margaret Frith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
William Bradford, Pilgrim Boy
by Bradford Smith
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
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