20th Century America

The 20th was America's century. The United States in particular was able to play the role of industrial leader, international hero, aloof arbiter, Good Samaritan, and cultural giant. Of course, there were plenty of detractors, and snobs who didn't like the thought of an upstart nation of plebs gaining so much influence and power so quickly, but for the most part America and Americans were heralded as everyone's friend.

It was also the century of postmodernism, Darwinian indoctrination, modern "art", legalized abortion, rampant sexual license, etc., most of these finding their origin or substantial support in the U.S.A. American troops may have stopped the spread of Communism in South Korea and taken out the Third Reich, but they weren't able to stop the spread of anti-Christian sentiment or the deaths of more Christian martyrs than in all the previous centuries combined.

The British historian Paul Johnson says the Modern Era was born on March 29, 1919, when photographs of a solar eclipse proved Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. It's always a dangerous business inaugurating or ending historical periods with specific dates, but this much is clear—with the universal acceptance of Einstein's theory which followed, the moral and philosophical relativism with which the West had been experimenting for 300 years or so was finally codified as the standard approach to life, the universe and everything.

Einstein first published his theory in 1905. Shortly thereafter, the world began to fall apart. World War I was more than just a war—it was the conflict of outmoded nationalistic ideals with the new super-efficient war machines produced by the Industrial Revolution and technological progress. The Great Depression affected nations all over the world, the Lost Generation abandoned morality and surrendered to existential angst, and World War II stripped away the last illusions of innocence.

After that, there was no going back. Everything was questioned, everything was assumed to be in flux, there were no absolutes, no stationary standards, just the present and confusion and ambiguity. Existentialism told people to create their own meaning through self-actualization; postmodernism said there was no meaning, or that all meaning was relative and ultimately meaningless, merely a social construct designed to control people.

This is where human-centered thinking will ultimately get you, of course.When God is dismissed, hope is impossible, and the only response is either complete despair (existentialism) or complete nonsense (postmodernism). Add in the godless sexual preoccupations of Freudian theory, the culmination of Darwinian evolutionary naturalism, and the Enlightenment-inspired trust in human goodness and progress, and you've got a chaotic world.

Which is what we have now. After the Sexual Revolution, the secularization of public dialogue, and the watering-down of the Christian Gospel in so many churches, we're left with moral, religious and philosophical wreckage of the worst kind. Fortunately, we also have the true Gospel, which tells us that Christ has always and will always be the answer to evil and the only path to Truth and Salvation.

Despite the high death toll among Christians in the 20th century, the last 100 years also saw the most concerted missionary efforts yet undertaken, spanning every continent and nearly every people group. The Bible was translated into hundreds of languages (there are still thousands to go), the poor were cared for, and the Good News of the resurrected Lord was taken everywhere men and women could go.

Even the darkest centuries (and the 20th was certainly among them) aren't sufficient to overcome the work of Yahweh Almighty among His people and in the created world. Man has always rebelled; he will continue to do so. But God's faithful children will continue to spread His message and love and witness through the power of the Holy Spirit until Christ comes again and history is fulfilled in all the glory and majesty of the triumphant Godhead.

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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Adèle & Simon in America
by Barbara McClintock
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All About Aviation
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Battle of the Bulge
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Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
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Boxes for Katje
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Brave Harriet
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Brothers at Bat
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Carrie's War
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Cats in Krasinski Square
by Karen Hesse
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Choosing Brave
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2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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Coal Miner's Bride
Dear America
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Cold War Correspondent
by Nathan Hale
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Coming on Home Soon
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Corrie Ten Boom: Shining in the Darkness
Heroes for Young Readers
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Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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Early Sunday Morning
Dear America
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First World War
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Flight
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1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Forging Freedom
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Girl From the Tar Paper School
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Golden Book History of the United States Volume 10
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Hear My Sorrow
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Hot Air
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2006 Caldecott Honor Book
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How and Why Wonder Book of World War II
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from Grosset & Dunlap
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How I Became an American
by Karin Gundisch
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How I Learned Geography
by Uri Shulevitz
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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$21.99
How They Built the Statue of Liberty
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Immigrants to America
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Jane Addams
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Lindbergh
Classic Starts
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Little Fishes
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American Girls Short Stories
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American Girls Short Stories
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My Brothers' Flying Machine
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My Secret War
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North of Danger
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October 45
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One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping
Dear America
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Pearl Harbor is Burning!
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Petros' War
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Picture Book of Rosa Parks
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Picture Book Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
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Place to Hang the Moon
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Primrose Day
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Red Baron
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Ride the Crooked Wind
by Dale Fife, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
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Secret Seder
by Doreen Rappaport
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Shooting at the Stars
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So Far from the Sea
by Eve Bunting
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Spy Who Came in from the Sea
by Peggy Nolan
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Adventure Stories for 2nd-6th grade
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Stink Alley
by Jamie Gilson
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Story of Amelia Earhart
Signature Books #33
by Adele de Leeuw, illustrated by Harry Beckhoff
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Story of D-Day
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Story of D-Day
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Story of Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Story of the Atomic Bomb
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Cornerstones of Freedom
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Cornerstones of Freedom
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Grosset & Dunlap Signature #40
by Alida Sims Malkus, illustrated by H. B. Vestal
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Through My Eyes
by Ruby Bridges, Compiled and Edited by Margo Lundell
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2000 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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$17.99
Thurgood Marshall
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Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #4
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Valley of the Moon
Dear America
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Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged!
by Jody Nyasha Warner, Richard Rudnicki
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
When Christmas Comes Again
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When Grandpa Wore Knickers
by Fern Brown & Andree Vilas Grabe, illustrated by Joe Lasker
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Where Did Your Family Come From?
by Melvin and Gilda Berger; illustrated by Robert M. Quackenbush
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Winnie's Great War
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World War II Days
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Year of the Flying Machine, 1903
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