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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1846 - Portrait of the Nation
by Smithsonian Institute
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Abe Lincoln
Landmark Series
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
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1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Adam of the Road
Puffin Newbery Library
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1943 Newbery Medal winner
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Adventures of Robin Hood
Puffin Classics
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Art of Keeping Cool
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Step Into Reading Level 3
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Childhood of Famous Americans
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Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903
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Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903
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Earthquake at Dawn
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Endless Steppe
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Era Of Colonization & Settlement 1600-1760's
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Escape From Warsaw
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Esperanza Rising
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Eyes of the Emperor
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For Freedom
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Geoffrey Chaucer of England
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George Washington's Breakfast
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George Washington's Breakfast
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George Washington, Spymaster
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Gettysburg
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Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Gods and Generals
by Jeff Shaara
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Good Master
Puffin Newbery Library
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1936 Newbery Honor Book
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Good Night, Mr. Tom
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Goodbye, Vietnam
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Grandma Moses
Women of Our Time
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Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
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1990 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Guns for General Washington
by Seymour Reit
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Harry Houdini: Master of Magic
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Heroes & Monsters Of Greek Myth
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Hidden
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Hiding Place
by Corrie Ten Boom
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Hiroshima
by John Hersey
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Historical Non-Fiction for 9th-Adult
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Horrible Histories: Measly Middle Ages
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Horrible Histories: Terrible Tudors
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Horrible Histories: Vile Victorians
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House of Dies Drear
by Virginia Hamilton
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House of Sixty Fathers RUC
by Meindert DeJong & Maurice Sendak
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Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1957 Newbery Honor Book
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House on Walenska Street
by Charlotte Herman
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House on Walenska Street
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I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967
I Survived #17
by Lauren Tarshis
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Imitation of Christ
by Thomas à Kempis
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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
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In Their Own Words: Abraham Lincoln
In Their Own Words
by George Sullivan
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Biography for 3rd-4th grade
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In Their Own Words: Lewis and Clark
by George Sullivan
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In Their Own Words: Pocahontas
by George Sullivan
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Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Ink on His Fingers
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Invincible Louisa
by Cornelia Meigs
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Ivan and the Informer
by Myrna Grant
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Ivan and the Secret in the Suitcase
by Myrna Grant
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Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express
by Kristiana Gregory
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Josefina Story Quilt
An I Can Read Book Level 3
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Journals of Lewis & Clark
Signet Classics
by John Bakeless, editor
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Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Journey to America
Journey to America Saga #1
by Sonia Levitin
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Kidnapped Prince
by Olaudah Equiano
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King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
Puffin Classics
by Roger Green
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 6th-10th grade
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Kite Rider
by Geraldine McCaughrean
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$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
La Vita Nuova
by Dante Alighieri
from Dover Publications
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Land I Lost
by Quang Nhuong Huynh
from HarperTrophy
Memoir for 4th-6th grade
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$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark Series
by James Daugherty
from Random House
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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$6.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, introduction by A.B. Guthrie, Jr.
Reprint from Bantam Books
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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