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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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A is for Africa
by Ifeoma Onyefulu
Reprint from Puffin Books
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ABC of Canada
by Kim Bellefontaine
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Adelita
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Adventures of Paddy the Beaver
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #19
by Thornton W. Burgess
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$4.00
Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear
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Alexander the Great
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All the Colors of the Earth
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Always Room for One More
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1966 Caldecott Medal winner
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Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock
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Anatole
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1957 Caldecott Honor Book
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Anno's Italy PB
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$14.95
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Apples to Oregon
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$8.99
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Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
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$5.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Arroz Con Leche
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Art Coloring Book
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$5.40 (1 in stock)
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by Ken Mochizuki
from Lee & Low Books
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$9.95
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by Linda Sue Park
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BFB Early American History - K-3 Pack
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$260.93
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$10.99
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Adventures in Colonial America
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Blue Feather's Vision
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
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Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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from Kids Can Press
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by Stephen Krensky, Illustrated by James Watling
from Scholastic Inc.
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$1.50 (2 in stock)
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Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
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1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
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1st edition from National Geographic
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by James Haskins
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by James Haskins
from First Avenue Editions
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in Ancient Israel (Location: HISW-ANIS)
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Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
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Word Books for Preschool-2nd grade
1956 Caldecott Honor Book
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$8.99
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
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1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
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$9.99
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
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by Grace Lin
Reprint from Dragonfly Books
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Discovering Great Artists
by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
2nd edition from Chicago Review Press
for Preschool-6th grade
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$19.99
Discovering Great Artists (old)
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from Bright Ring Publishing
for Preschool-6th grade
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
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by Patrick O'Brien
from Walker and Company
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by Jama Kim Rattigan & Lillian Hsu
Reprint from Little, Brown & Company
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Eating the Alphabet
by Lois Ehlert
from Voyager Paperbacks
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Edward the Emu
by Sheena Knowles
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$7.99
El Chino
by Allen Say
from HMH Books for Young Readers
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Elizabeth Fry
from Emerald Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Emperor and the Kite
by Jane Yolen
from Putnam Juvenile
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
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$6.99
Empty Pot
by Demi
from Henry Holt and Company
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$10.99
Eureka! It's an Airplane
by Jeanne Bendick
from Millbrook Press
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in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
Everybody Cooks Rice
from First Avenue Editions
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Families Around the World
by Jo E. Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for Preschool-1st grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Famous Figures of the American Revolution
from Figures in Motion
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in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$12.00 (3 in stock)
Farm
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
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by Ji-yun Jang
from Eerdmans
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.00
Favorite Greek Myths
by Mary Pope Osborne
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
First Thanksgiving
by Jean Craighead George
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$7.99
Fortune-Tellers
by Lloyd Alexander, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
from Puffin Books
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$8.99
Freedom on the Menu
by Carole Boston Weatherford
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in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$6.99
From Akebu to Zapotec
by June Hathersmith
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$6.00 (3 in stock)
Funny Little Woman
by Arlene Mosel & Blair Lent
Reissue from Puffin Books
1973 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.99
Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
by Paul Goble
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Native American Legends for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1979 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
Going West!
Kalideoscope Kids Book
by Carol A. Johmann, Elizabeth J. Rieth
from Williamson Publishing Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Granny Han's Breakfast
by Shelia Groves
from OMF
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.50 (4 in stock)
Granny Han's Breakfast
by Shelia Groves
from OMF
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Hanna's Cold Winter
by Trish Marx & Barbara Knutson
from Purple House Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$11.95
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King
by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (3 in stock)
Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Hidden Tales from Eastern Europe
by Antonia Barber
from Frances Lincoln
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (3 in stock)
Honey... Honey... Lion!
by Jan Brett
Reprint from Puffin Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Horn for Louis
Stepping Stones
by Eric A. Kimmel
from Penguin Random House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
How My Parents Learned to Eat
by Ina R. Friedman
from Sandpiper Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Hush!
by Minfong Ho & Holly Meade
Reprint from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-1st grade
1997 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Ian and the Gigantic Leafy Obstacle
by Sheila Miller
from OMF
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
If You're Not from the Prairie . . .
by David Bouchard
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
In Search of the Lost Colony
Outer Banks Animals Adventure Series
by Mary Maden
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in New World Colonization (Location: HISA-17NW)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Jambo Means Hello
by Muriel Feelings, Tom Feelings (Illustrator)
from Puffin Books
Alphabet Books for Preschool-1st grade
1975 Caldecott Honor Book
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
$8.99
Jamestown
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Beautiful Feet Books
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$6.95 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Johnny Appleseed
by Steven Kellogg
from HarperTrophy
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Johnny Appleseed
by Gini Holland
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.95 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Joshua in the Promised Land
by Miriam Chaikin
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Bible Stories for Kids (Location: BIBR-STO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Journey to Monticello
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
Juan Bobo Goes to Work
by Marisa Montes
from Rayo
Folk Tale for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
King Midas and the Golden Touch
by Charlotte Craft, Illustrated by K. Y. Craft
from HarperCollins
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
King's Chessboard
by David Birch & Devis Grebu
Reprint from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
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