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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140 Items found Print
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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
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Anna and the King of Siam
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Beat to Quarters
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Beckoning Road
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Boys of '76
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By England's Aid
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By Right of Conquest
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Christy
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Cornet of Horse
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Coronation of Glory
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Czar, The
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Defender of the Faith
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 2
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Doctor Adrian
Reformation Trail Series #13
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Done and Dared in Old France
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Driven into Exile
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Escape
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For God and the King
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Hornblower During the Crisis
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How They Kept the Faith
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I Will Maintain
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In Greek Waters
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In the Heart of the Rockies
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In the Reign of Terror
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In Times of Peril
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Jack Archer
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John Treegate's Musket
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King's Service
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Kitchen Boy
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Last Cavalier
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Modern Library
by Victor Hugo, translated by Julie Rose
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Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower
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Lion of the North
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List
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Lord Hornblower
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Loyal Huguenot Maid
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Martyr of Kolin
Young Burning Hearts Series
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Moon Over Manifest
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2011 Newbery Medal Winner
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Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Hornblower Series #1
by C. S. Forester
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Night Divided
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
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No Surrender!
by G. A. Henty
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Not for Crown or Sceptre
Reformation Trail Series #15
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$25.95
Ocean-Born Mary
by Lois Lenski
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One of the 28th
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Orange and Green
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Out on the Pampas
by G. A. Henty
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Patterns on the Wall
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Peter Treegate's War
by Leonard Wibberley
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Queen Victoria
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Queen Victoria
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Queen's Cup
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Redskin and Cowboy
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Refugees
Huguenot Inheritance Series #6
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Remember the Alamo!
Adventures in History Series
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Rifleman Dodd
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Rising Tide
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Sea Captain from Salem
Treegate Series Book 3
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Sea of Glory - A Novel
by David Poling, Ken Wales
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Search for a Secret
by G. A. Henty
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Secret Mission
Huguenot Inheritance Series #2
by A. Van der Jagt
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Sherwood Ring
by Elizabeth Marie Pope
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Ship of the Line
Hornblower Series #7
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Soldier of Virginia
by Marjorie Bowen
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$12.95
Sovereign Reader
by G. A. Henty
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Spanish Brothers
Reformation Trail Series #10
by Deborah Alcock
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$14.95
Spice and the Devil's Cave
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Lynd Ward
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1931 Newbery Honor Book
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