Chronological History

Sometimes we speak of world history as though it belongs to people. It doesn't—it belongs to God, and though people play prominently within the historical narrative, it always remains under God's auspices and control. The problem with losing the right perspective isn't that we'll get the facts wrong, it's that we'll fail to understand what they mean, what the purpose of past events is, and what we can look forward to.

Human history began all at once in the same place: the Garden of Eden, where God made Adam and Eve as the crown of all Creation. He told them to fill the earth and take dominion of it, and He also told them not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They ate the fruit anyway, and mankind was removed from paradise and introduced to tension, pain, and resistance.

The story of the world is in many ways simply the story of adversity. For the enemies of God, it's adversity in the form of the failure and futility of purely human endeavor; for God's people, it's the story of fighting for the truth against secular philosophies, fighting for holiness despite the pervasiveness of sin, and fighting for the Gospel in the face of persecution and death.

Jesus Christ is our only hope. He is the Prince of Peace, the defeater of Death, and the King of the Universe, the saver of souls and the punisher of wickedness. His kingdom is the restoration and glorious fulfillment of the paradise from which Adam and Eve were removed, and we work, wait, hope and pray for the quick fulfillment of His will in all things.

This is our framework for history. While it's important to study things like the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the ancient Near East, it's only important when investigated through the lens of God's ultimate sovereignty and plan. The story of mankind is the story of redemption, and only when we analyze battles, kings, treaties, and catastrophes from God's perspective can we truly make sense of them.

Otherwise, it's all fairly irrelevant and useless. Sure, there's Napoleon's dictum that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, but a quick survey of the past will show that each successive generation does repeat the sins of their fathers, and that without Christ's real physical life on Earth as a centering point, there's no real cause for optimism or hope of any kind.

Christ's love not only makes the trajectory of history cause for hope; it reveals the truly great moments of the past, events that to the secular eye seem insignificant or even pernicious. We're speaking of the progress of the true Church, of course, and of each soul that God calls and makes His own through the agency of His Holy Spirit. These are the milestones we look for and celebrate.

We carry a lot of world history products. Because it's the story of God's work in the world and our human responses, we believe it's important to know and understand. Not everything we carry is Christian; there are plenty of secular resources here. We encourage you to use whichever ones work best for your situation, but that you do so with a view to understanding the will and work of the One who made history in the first place.

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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1493 for Young People
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Adam and His Kin
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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
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Augustine Came to Kent
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Beyond the Desert Gate
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
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Beyond the Sacred Page
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Sons of Liberty Series
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Boy and the Samurai
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman, David Frampton (Woodcuts)
2nd edition from Scholastic Inc.
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Butter in the Well: Historical Diary 1868-1888
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Children of the Wild West
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Children's Homer
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Civil War
by Pat Wesolowski
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Step Into History
by Steven Otfinoski
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by Jacob Abbott
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Colonial Town: Williamsburg
by Bobbie Kalman
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Coloring Book of the Olympics
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Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
by Colin Hynson
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
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1986 Newbery Honor Book
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Courage and Conviction
History Lives Volume 3
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Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Cyrus the Persian
by Sherman A. Nagel
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Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
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Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
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Dateline: Troy
by Paul Fleischman
New Updated Edition from Candlewick Press
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Davy Crockett
by David Crockett
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Devil at My Heels
by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin, foreword by John McCain
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Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Dispelling the Tyranny
Struggle for Freedom Series #2
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
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DK Eyewitness: Civil War
by John Stanchack
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Early Thunder
by Jean Fritz
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Eating the Plates
by Lucille Recht Penner
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Elizabeth I
Jackdaw No. 53
from Jackdaw Publications
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #5
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Gail Owens
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 6th-9th grade
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Escape
Huguenot Inheritance Series #1
by A. Van der Jagt
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
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$13.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Escape from Slavery
by Frederick Douglass, edited and illustrated by Michael McCurdy, foreword by Coretta Scott King
from Beautiful Feet Books
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Exploration of Africa
by Colin Hynson
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Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
from Tor Classic
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Faith Unfurled
from History Compass
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Famous Men of Modern Times - Student Guide
by Leigh Lowe & Tanya Charlton
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Famous Men of Modern Times - Teacher Guide
by Leigh Lowe & Tanya Charlton
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Farewell to Manzanar
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Father's Promise
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For God and Country
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For the Heart of Holland
Struggle for Freedom Series #4
by Piet Prins
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Forgotten Daughter
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
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1934 Newbery Honor Book
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Fort Clatsop
by Daniel J. Dattilio
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George Washington
Sowers Series
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George Washington's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
History Reference/Biography for 7th-10th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
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Glorious Age in Africa
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Going Solo
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Going Solo
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Golden Fleece
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
1922 Newbery Honor Book
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Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
by Laura Amy Schlitz
2nd edition from Candlewick Press
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Great Battles of the Civil War
by John Macdonald
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Great Medieval Projects You Can Build Yourself
by Kris Bordessa
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$10.50 (1 in stock)
Great Wheel
by Robert Lawson
from Walker and Company
Realistic fiction for 4th-8th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
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Greek News
The History News
by Anton Powell & Philip Steele
from Candlewick Press
for 5th-8th grade
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$4.50 (2 in stock)
Greek Way
by Edith Hamilton
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Greek History for 7th-10th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$13.95 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Gulf War 1991
by Alastair Finlan
from Osprey Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in 20th Century: 1980-1999 (Location: HISW-20C4)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
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