History

History CurriculumHistory Resources

As with most things, C.S. Lewis had a unique view of history. For him, the really important bits were the stories—he makes a distinction between actual historical realities and the idealized versions of them handed down which make heroes and villains of mere men and women. It's not that the stories are completely false, but their value is for character-building, not as factual data.

The tales of George Washington's bravery in battle, coolness under pressure, rigorous truthfulness, and unflagging piety may accurately preserve the essence of his temperament and nobility, but not all of them are strictly historical. The point of these stories isn't to impart facts, however, it's to offer an example of goodness for the rest of us to emulate.

Getting the facts right is still important, though. As Christians, we can't afford to have a false understanding of "the old days." Mankind is fallen, and the story of his sojourn on Earth is filled with war, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, pride and envy; a study of history that omits those elements is both false and useless. False, because it is incomplete, and useless, because it tells us nothing of the human condition or our current situation.

It's a bit of a mystery to us why non-Christians are motivated to study the past. For believers, the end goal isn't just acquisition of facts about events and cultures, it's the instillation of a thoroughly Christian worldview, an understanding of the course of the human endeavour as decreed and guided by God Himself.

The story of Jesus Christ is central. It is the only history story that fulfills the character-building element Lewis looked for, while remaining absolutely true in every detail. Man is fallen and he does struggle against God, but through Christ there is hope of redemption, a chance to connect heaven and earth through the Atonement. Christ is the ultimate example of God's providence.

In the Reformed tradition, God's sovereignty is a very big deal. According to the doctrine of divine decree, God has ordered all things that were, are and will come to be for His own good pleasure and glory. His hand is thus present everywhere, in the privatest private life and the most public and widespread crisis. God is in control, providentially guiding nations, men, and the entire cosmos.

This very doctrine is perhaps what best explains the humanist's interest in history (whether he be atheist, agnostic, pagan). Man's natural bent is to make himself the hero of the story, to show how people can sway the trajectory of all things. God's version is quite different, and the two are naturally in conflict. Resolution may only be found in Christ.

For, while God decrees and guides all things, He has also (paradoxically) decreed man's free will and personal responsibility. Men do change the course of kingdoms, but it is only through God's agency. A proper Christian study of history takes both truths into account, and tells the stories of good guys and bad guys through the light of everything God's Word says about human nature and divine control.

We encourage you to take great comfort and joy in your study of history. Read books, watch movies (carefully noting that a lot of the story is likely to be inaccurate in detail), go on fieldtrips to forts and battlefields and birthplaces. Most of all, talk about these things. The end goal, after all, isn't to know a bunch of trivia, but to understand what God has done and continues to do.

No one knows for sure what the end of history will look like, except that every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to the returned glorious Christ, who comes to judge the living and the dead. What we believe about Him will determine whether that culmination will be filled with joy or loathing (everyone will be terrified). He is the author of history, and its centerpiece; honor Him in your study of it.

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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Active Filters: 12th grade (Ages 17-18), New Books & Materials
100 Most Important Events in Christian History
by A. Kenneth Curtis, et al.
from Revell Publishing
Church History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Church History Overviews (Location: XCH-OVE)
$21.99 $11.50 (1 in stock)
101 Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
from Kregel Publications
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in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$18.99
101 Hymn Stories
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40th Anniversary from Kregel Publications
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101 More Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
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in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$18.99
1066: The Year of the Conquest
by David Howarth
from Penguin Putnam
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$16.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
1776
by David McCullough
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50 States Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
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$7.96
A.D. - CD
by Various
from Vision Forum
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in History Conferences & Lectures (Location: HISRF-CONF)
$45.00
Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches
Dover Thrift Editions
by Abraham Lincoln & John Grafton, editor
from Dover Publications
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$2.00
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
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Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt
by Theodore Roosevelt
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$16.00
Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald
from Vintage Classics
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles
from Penguin Putnam
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$19.00
Aeneid - MP Student Guide
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$19.90
Aeneid - MP Teacher Guide
by Cody King
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Aeneid Of Virgil
by Virgil, translated by Allan Mandelbaum
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$5.95
Aeschylus II: The Oresteia
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
3rd edition from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
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$14.00
Aeschylus' Oresteia
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
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$16.00
Aeschylus' Oresteia
by Aeschylus, translated by Peter Meineck
from Hackett Publishing Company
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
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$13.50
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus, translated by Phillip Vellacott
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
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Against All Odds
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$14.99
Age of Revolution I
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$29.95
Age of Revolution II
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$29.95
Age of Revolution III
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
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$34.95
Ain't Burned All the Bright
by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jason Griffin
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2023 Caldecott Honor Book
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Alexander Hamilton - Coloring Book
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Biography for 9th-Adult
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All He Knew
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Amazing Grace
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America: From Gridlock to Deadlock
A Basic History of the United States Volume 6
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$19.00
America: The First 350 Years - MP3 CD
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$25.00
American Government - Activities Answer Key
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American Government - Activities Manual
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American Government - CLP Tests
3rd edition from Christian Liberty Press
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$5.25
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4th edition from Bob Jones University Press
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$96.39
American History - Set (old)
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$28.00
American History - Student Edition
by James P. Stobaugh
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$39.19
American History - Teacher Guide
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Revised 2020 from Master Books
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$21.59
American History in Verse
by Burton Stevenson
from Bob Jones University Press
Poetry for 3rd-Adult
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$11.00
American History to 1865 - CD Set
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
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$119.00
American Voices
by Ray Notgrass (editor)
3rd edition from Notgrass Company
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$40.00
Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry
by Tony Barnstone & Chou Ping, eds.
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Ancient China: To the Great Wall...and Beyond
by Judy Wilcox
from Zeezok Publishing
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$13.95
Ancient Greece
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
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Ancient History - Senior Guide
by Rebecca Manor
from Beautiful Feet Books
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$28.95
Ancient Rome
by Richard Maybury
2nd edition from Bluestocking Press
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$11.95
Ancient Rome
by Michelle Miller
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History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
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And There Was Light
by Jacques Lusseyran
Third Edition from New World Library
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Animal Farm
Signet Classics
by George Orwell
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Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
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Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
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$14.95
Annals of Imperial Rome
Penguin Classics
by Tacitus
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Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
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Anne Bradstreet
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Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
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Anno's Journey
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Annotated Arabian Nights
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Annotated Mona Lisa
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Annotated Mona Lisa
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Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works
Oxford World's Classics
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Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
Signet Classics
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American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
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Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
by Patrick Henry & John DeWitt
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American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
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Antigone
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Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult
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Antigone
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Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult
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Arabian Nights I
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Arabian Nights II
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Arrow Pointing to Heaven
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Art of War
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Arthur Erskine's Story
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Ascent to Love
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Atlas of World History
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Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
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Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Dover Thrift Editions
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Autobiography of George Muller
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Biography for 11th-Adult
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Awakening of Miss Prim
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Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by John Davies)
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Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
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Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by Phillip Vellacott)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
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$13.00
Band of Brothers
by Stephen Ambrose, Foreword by Tom Hanks
25th anniversary from Simon and Schuster
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$18.99
Basic History of the United States - Teacher's Guide
A Basic History of the United States
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-12th grade
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$15.00
Basic Works of Aristotle
by Aristotle
from Modern Library
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$24.00
Battle Cry of Freedom
Oxford History of the United States
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from Oxford University
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Beat to Quarters
Hornblower Series #6
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Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
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Beautiful Thread
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Beginner Book: Warfare by Duct Tape
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Beginning of the Republic
A Basic History of the United States Volume 2
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$17.00
Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace
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$7.00
Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings
Signet Classics
by Benjamin Franklin
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
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Beowulf
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Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
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Beowulf
by Anonymous (translation by Seamus Heaney)
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Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
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Beowulf
Dover Thrift Editions
by Anonymous, translated by R. K. Gordon
from Dover Publications
Medieval Epic for 8th-Adult
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Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Seamus Heaney
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Medieval Poetic Epic for 9th-Adult
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Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Douglas Wilson
from Canon Press
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