Modern History

There isn't more history in the last five centuries than all the previous millennia, we just have more plentiful records of it. In all honesty, sometimes the plethora of detail isn't only overwhelming, it obscures the whole point of the story. As humans, we're all too susceptible to the lure of obscurity, to the desire for darkness where there ought to be light.

In many ways, this is the chief characteristic of modern history. Mankind seems to have accepted Enlightenment ideals en masse, and the result is the non-stop acquisition of knowledge, as though information could shut us off from the eye of a just and jealous God. Evolutionary theory, psychology, existentialism and postmodernism, public education, Communism—all these ideas are intended to put man at a further remove from God.

During the Renaissance, thinkers and artists decided that if man was going to make himself great, he'd have to replicate the glory of the Classical Era, with its enduring artifacts and intellectual produce. Enlightenment thinkers took this one step further, insisting that man could only know what he could deduce using reason alone, and consequently amassing knowledge in order to have a more thorough basis for such reasonable inquiry.

Since then, philosophers and scientists have devoted themselves to interpreting the facts from a purely human perspective, creating a picture of the universe that is mechanistic and godless. Meaning is dead, God is dead, and hope is dead, but the Enlightenment ideal of human progress (repackaged as Darwinian naturalism) is alive and well, the phantom idol of countless millions.

Even a brief survey of the last century would seem to demolish the possibility of any such idea, but it continues to inform nearly every element of our culture, from pop music to public policy debates. Atrocities like the Holocaust, racism in America, abortion, and totalitarian rule in Asian countries are reinterpreted or explained away to fit the overarching rubrik of sustained forward progress.

Christians understand things a bit differently. We aren't pessimists by any means, but we aren't blind optimists, either. God's plan entails one thing: His ultimate glory, and for those who believe His promises and trust Him for salvation, that's the most hopeful doctrine conceivable. At the same time, we also understand that man's efforts cannot be responsible for whatever good befalls us, that "progress" is only a gift of the Most High, and that only through the Holy Spirit is evil overcome by good.

The modern world is increasingly secular. Even in the Church, men and women stray from biblical truth in favor of appealing arguments on behalf of man, substituting a Christ-centered Gospel with one that is primarily focused on mankind and our individual salvation. We must counter these attitudes with God's truth, but we can only do so with an understanding of where those ideas come from and why they've taken root. A thorough study of modern history can and will provide those answers, and teach us how to stand firm in the truth we hold dear.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and 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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by Scott O'Dell
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Amos Fortune, Free Man
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Historical House: 1969
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America's Children
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Art of Keeping Cool
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2001 Scott O'Dell Award
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North Star Books #38
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Land of the Free Series
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Ben and Me
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
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Beware, Princess Elizabeth
A Young Royals Book
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Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
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Bite of the Gold Bug
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Black Falcon
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Black Radishes
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Blackthorn Winter
Monroe Family Chronicles #1
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Blades of Freedom
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #10
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Blazing West: The Journal of Augustus Pelletier
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Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
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Blowing-Wand
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Reif Ziegler, illustrated by Jacob Landau
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Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Blue Birds
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Bold Journey
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Bonanza Girl
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Bonnie Dundee
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Bonnie Prince Charlie
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Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Bonnie Prince Charlie
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Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Bonnie Prince Charlie
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Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Book Thief
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Boris
by Jaap Ter Haar
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$11.95
Borrowed House
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Hilda Van Stockum
from Purple House Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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$13.95
Botany Bay
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
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Bound for Oregon
by Jean Van Leeuwen
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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$7.99
Bounty Trilogy
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 10th-Adult
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$53.52
Boy and the Samurai
by Erik Christian Haugaard
Reissue from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Corona Publishing Co.
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Veritas Press
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
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$19.00
Boy Sailor with John Paul Jones
by H. C. Thomas
from Whitman Publishing Company
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
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$17.99
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
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$11.99
Boys of '76
by Charles Coffin
from Maranatha Publications
Historical Reference for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
Brady
by Jean Fritz
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Brady
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Coward McCann
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Breadwinner, The
by Deborah Ellis
from Groundwood Books
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$11.99
Breaking Stalin's Nose
by Eugene Yelchin
from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
2012 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99
Brother's Keeper
by Julie Lee
from Holiday House
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$9.99
Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-4th grade
2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman, David Frampton (Woodcuts)
2nd edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
By England's Aid
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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$20.00
By England's Aid
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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By Far Euphrates
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 9th-12th grade
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$14.95
By Pike and Dyke - Unit Study Guide
by Rick Medlin
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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$7.00 (2 in stock)
By Right of Conquest
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
By Right of Conquest
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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