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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
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for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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Adventures of Paddy the Beaver
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by Thornton W. Burgess
Unabridged from Dover Publications
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00
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unknown from Millbrook Press
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$5.99
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$5.99
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$5.99
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$5.99
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by Marianne Hering & Marshal Younger
from Focus on the Family
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$5.99
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by Marianne Hering, Marshal Younger
from Focus on the Family
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$5.99
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by Marianne Hering, Wayne Thomas Batson
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$5.99
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by Marianne Hering, Wayne Thomas Batson
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$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #12
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
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in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
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by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
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$5.99
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by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
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by Marianne Hering
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$5.99
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by Marianne Hering
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by Marianne Hering
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by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
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Alexander the Great
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Reissue from Oxford University
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$6.99
Alexander the Great Coloring Book
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from Bellerophon Books
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1966 Caldecott Medal winner
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Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
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from Heinemann Library
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
American Army of Two
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for 1st-3rd grade
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for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1957 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
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in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
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$14.95
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from Beautiful Feet Books
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$8.99
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from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Wendell Minor
from Disney-Hyperion
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Bilingual from Scholastic Inc.
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for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Usborne Activities (Location: ACT-USB)
$5.40 (1 in stock)
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Act from Dover Publications
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in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$9.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
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1st Mulberry ed from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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for 1st-3rd grade
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from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
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Country ABCs
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from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Balto and the Great Race
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by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
1st Printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.99
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by Ken Mochizuki
from Lee & Low Books
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.95
Beatrice's Goat
by Page McBrier
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
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in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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by Linda Sue Park
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Before There Was Mozart
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for 1st-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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BFB Early American History - K-3 Pack
from Beautiful Feet Books
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by Pam Flowers
No Edition Stated from Alaska Northwest Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Biggest Frog in Australia
by Susan L. Roth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.99
Billy the Union Soldier with 24 Stickers - Activity Book
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Blue Feather's Vision
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Blue Feather's Vision
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Book About Christopher Columbus
by Ruth Belov Gross, Illustrated by Syd Hoff
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Borreguita and the Coyote
by Verna Aardema
Reprint from Dragonfly Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bossy Gallito / El gallo de bodas: (Bilingual) (Spanish Edition)
by Lucia M. Gonzalez
Blg Rep from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-2nd grade
in Spanish Curriculum (Location: FL-SPACU)
Boy Who Held Back the Sea
by Thomas Locker
from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Bracelet, The
by Yoshika Uchida
from PaperStar Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bread, Bread, Bread
by Ann Morris
Reprint from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD)
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
by Verna Aardema & Beatriz Vidal
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Building an Igloo
by Ulli Steltzer
from Square Fish Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
Can You Say Peace?
by Karen Katz
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
Cassio's Day
A Child's Day
by Maria de Fatima Campos
Reprint from Frances Lincoln
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Castle with Many Rooms
by Lorene Lambert
from Simply Charlotte Mason
for 1st-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred
by Samantha R. Vamos
Reprint from Charlesbridge
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Chanticleer and the Fox
by Barbara Cooney
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade
1959 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Children Around the World
by Donata Montanari
from Kids Can Press
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
Children of the Earth and Sky
by Stephen Krensky, Illustrated by James Watling
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$1.50 (2 in stock)
Children's Color Book of Jamestown in Virginia
by Priscilla Hunt
from The Dietz Pres, Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Artist
by Taylor Morrison
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial America
by Donald M. Silver, Patricia J. Wynne
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Town: Williamsburg
by Bobbie Kalman
Revised from Crabtree Publishing
for 1st-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Coloring Book of Ancient Greece
from Bellerophon Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Coloring Book of the Odyssey
from Bellerophon Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Coloring Book of the Trojan War: The Iliad Vol. 1
by John K. Anderson
from Bellerophon Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Colors of Us
by Karen Katz
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
Coming On Home Soon
by Jacqueline Woodson
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Coming to America
by Betsy Maestro
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill
by Dorothy Wall
Ill from CreateSpace
for 1st-3rd grade
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Conejito: A Folktale from Panama
by Margaret Read MacDonald
from August House
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cool Drink of Water
by Barbara Kerley
1st edition from National Geographic
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
Count Your Way Through Africa
by James Haskins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
Count Your Way through China
by James Haskins, Jim Haskins
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Asia (Location: HISMC-ASIA)
Count Your Way Through Israel
by James Haskins
from First Avenue Editions
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Ancient Israel (Location: HISW-ANIS)
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