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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5,000-Year-Old Puzzle
by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
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Adam of the Road
Puffin Newbery Library
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from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
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Adam of the Road
Puffin Modern Classics
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Historical Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
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Biography for 2nd-6th grade
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American History in Verse
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Poetry for 3rd-Adult
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Word Books for 2nd-5th grade
1977 Caldecott Medal winner
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Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-7th grade
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Little House Series #5
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Little House Series #5
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
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Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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Canterbury Tales
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Captive Treasure
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Children's Homer
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Columbus
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Courage of Sarah Noble
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Reissue from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-6th grade
1955 Newbery Honor Book
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Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
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Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris
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from Candlewick Press
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
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$8.99
First Four Years
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
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First Four Years - Audio CD
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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by Katie Seabrook, illustrated by Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
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George Washington
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from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$17.95
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Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Good Queen Bess
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Great Wall of China
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Hitty
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1930 Newbery Medal winner
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Homer Price
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Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
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Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Joan of Arc of Domremy
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Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes
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1944 Newbery Medal winner
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by Lynne Banks, illustrated by James Watling
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Kidnapped
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade
$20.00
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson; illustrated by William Sharp
from Random House
Action/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
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Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark Series
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from Random House
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Leif the Lucky
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Leif the Lucky
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$17.95
Lion to Guard Us
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
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$9.99
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Chronicles of Narnia Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Chronicles of Narnia Book 2
by C. S. Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little House - Full Color Trade Paper Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$75.11
Little House - Hardcover Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
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$139.11
Little House - Softcover Boxed Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$79.91
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Little House on the Prairie (pictorial hardcover)
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Princess
Puffin Classics
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
Little Princess
Puffin Classics
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-8th grade
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Little Riders
by Margaretha Shemin
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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$8.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Little Town on the Prairie (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Town on the Prairie - Audio CD
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
$25.99
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.99
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99 $9.50 (1 in stock)
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Long Winter - Audio CD
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
Lost Baron
Bethlehem Books Adventure Library
by Allen French
from Bethlehem Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Making of a Knight
by Patrick O'Brien
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Picture Books/Historical Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
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Marguerite Makes a Book
by Bruce Robertson
from J. Paul Getty Museum
Picture Books for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95
Mary Jones and Her Bible
Classic Stories
by Mary Ropes
from Christian Focus Publications
for 4th-7th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins Series #1
by P. L. Travers, illustrated by Julia Sarda
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Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
May B.
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from Yearling
Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-7th grade
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$6.99
Medieval Feast
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-5th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Medieval Feast
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-5th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
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All-of-a-Kind Family Series #3
by Sydney Taylor
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95
More All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #3
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$34.00 (1 in stock)
12