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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525 Items found Print
Active Filters: Historical Fiction, 5th grade (Ages 10-11)
290
by Scott O'Dell
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Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
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Amos Fortune, Free Man
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Historical House: 1969
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Anna and the King (adapted)
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Art of Keeping Cool
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Bad News for Outlaws
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Ballad of Lucy Whipple
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Battle for Quebec
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Ben and Me
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
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Black Radishes
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Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
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Boy in the Alamo
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Boy Sailor with John Paul Jones
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by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Lynd Ward
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Breadwinner, The
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Breaking Stalin's Nose
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Brother's Keeper
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman, David Frampton (Woodcuts)
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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Little House Series #5
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Cabin Faced West
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Captain of the Minute Men
Boys of Liberty Library
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Captain's Dog
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Captives of the Senecas
by John Brick
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Caravan to Oregon
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Carolina's Courage
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Carpenter of Zerbst
by P. de Zeeuw
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
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1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Cecily's Portrait
Historical House: 1895
by Adele Geras
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Changes for Addy
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Changes for Felicity
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Child Star
by Lydia Weaver
from Viking Press
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in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the Covered Wagon
by Mary Jane Carr
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-5th grade
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$16.75
Children of the New Forest
by Frederick Marryat
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Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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Children of the New Forest
by Frederick Marryat
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Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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$12.99
Cleared for Action!
by Stephen W. Meader
from Bethlehem Books
Nautical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Clearing Weather
by Cornelia Meigs
Repint from Dover Publications
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1929 Newbery Honor Book
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Come on Seabiscuit
by Ralph Moody
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
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Coming Evil
by Vivian Vande Velde
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Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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Courage of Sarah Noble
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Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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Cromwell's Head
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Garden City Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Daniel's Story
by Carol Matas
from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.50 (2 in stock)
Daria Solves a Mystery
by Norma Jean Lutz
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Dark and Bloody Ground
by Phyllis R. Fenner, ed.
from William Morrow & Company
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in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Constance Rourke, illustrated by Walter Seaton
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1935 Newbery Honor Book
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Day the World Stopped Turning
by Michael Morpurgo
from Square Fish Publishing
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$8.99
Devil's Arithmetic
by Jane Yolen
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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$6.99
Dispelling the Tyranny
Struggle for Freedom Series #2
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Don't You Know There's a War On?
by Avi
Reprint from HarperCollins
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$7.99
Down Ryton Water
by E.R. Gaggin
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-6th grade
1942 Newbery Honor
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$4.50 (2 in stock)
Down Ryton Water
by E. R. Gaggin
from George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.
for 4th-6th grade
1942 Newbery Honor
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dragonfly Eyes
by Cao Wenxuan, translated from the Chinese by Helen Wang
from Candlewick Press
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Dragonwings
Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903
by Laurence Yep
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
1976 Newbery Honor Book
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