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History CurriculumHistory Resources

As with most things, C.S. Lewis had a unique view of history. For him, the really important bits were the stories—he makes a distinction between actual historical realities and the idealized versions of them handed down which make heroes and villains of mere men and women. It's not that the stories are completely false, but their value is for character-building, not as factual data.

The tales of George Washington's bravery in battle, coolness under pressure, rigorous truthfulness, and unflagging piety may accurately preserve the essence of his temperament and nobility, but not all of them are strictly historical. The point of these stories isn't to impart facts, however, it's to offer an example of goodness for the rest of us to emulate.

Getting the facts right is still important, though. As Christians, we can't afford to have a false understanding of "the old days." Mankind is fallen, and the story of his sojourn on Earth is filled with war, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, pride and envy; a study of history that omits those elements is both false and useless. False, because it is incomplete, and useless, because it tells us nothing of the human condition or our current situation.

It's a bit of a mystery to us why non-Christians are motivated to study the past. For believers, the end goal isn't just acquisition of facts about events and cultures, it's the instillation of a thoroughly Christian worldview, an understanding of the course of the human endeavour as decreed and guided by God Himself.

The story of Jesus Christ is central. It is the only history story that fulfills the character-building element Lewis looked for, while remaining absolutely true in every detail. Man is fallen and he does struggle against God, but through Christ there is hope of redemption, a chance to connect heaven and earth through the Atonement. Christ is the ultimate example of God's providence.

In the Reformed tradition, God's sovereignty is a very big deal. According to the doctrine of divine decree, God has ordered all things that were, are and will come to be for His own good pleasure and glory. His hand is thus present everywhere, in the privatest private life and the most public and widespread crisis. God is in control, providentially guiding nations, men, and the entire cosmos.

This very doctrine is perhaps what best explains the humanist's interest in history (whether he be atheist, agnostic, pagan). Man's natural bent is to make himself the hero of the story, to show how people can sway the trajectory of all things. God's version is quite different, and the two are naturally in conflict. Resolution may only be found in Christ.

For, while God decrees and guides all things, He has also (paradoxically) decreed man's free will and personal responsibility. Men do change the course of kingdoms, but it is only through God's agency. A proper Christian study of history takes both truths into account, and tells the stories of good guys and bad guys through the light of everything God's Word says about human nature and divine control.

We encourage you to take great comfort and joy in your study of history. Read books, watch movies (carefully noting that a lot of the story is likely to be inaccurate in detail), go on fieldtrips to forts and battlefields and birthplaces. Most of all, talk about these things. The end goal, after all, isn't to know a bunch of trivia, but to understand what God has done and continues to do.

No one knows for sure what the end of history will look like, except that every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to the returned glorious Christ, who comes to judge the living and the dead. What we believe about Him will determine whether that culmination will be filled with joy or loathing (everyone will be terrified). He is the author of history, and its centerpiece; honor Him in your study of it.

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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Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Print-on-demand paperback
America Is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
1960 Newbery Honor Book
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.95
Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Frances Brundage
from Living Book Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Book of Discovery
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$20.95
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$17.99
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$17.99
Borrowed House
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Hilda Van Stockum
from Purple House Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.95
Burning of Rome
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Purple House Press
for 5th-9th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$13.99
Common Sense
Dover Thrift Editions
by Thomas Paine
from Living Book Press
Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Daisy Chain
by Charlotte Yonge
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Days of Elijah
by John Noble
from Lulu.com
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Days of Joseph
by John Noble
from Unknown Publisher
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Early Church
by George Hodges
from Yesterday's Classics
for 8th-12th grade
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
$13.95
Famous Men of the Middle Ages
by John H. Haaren & A.B. Poland
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Reference for 5th - 10th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$13.95
Famous Men of the Middle Ages
by John H. Haaren & A.B. Poland
from Feather Trail Press
Historical Reference for 5th - 10th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
Florence Nightingale
by Laura E. Richards
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.95
Frontier Living
by Edwin Tunis
from Lyons Press
Historical Reference for 7th-10th grade
Newbery Honor Book 1962
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$19.95
Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from SeaWolf Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.95
Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1925 edition reprint from Amazon
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Great Gatsby and Winter Dreams
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.95
Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$9.99
Hannibal
Makers of History Series
by Jacob Abbott
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Hans Brinker
by Mary Mapes Dodge
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
He Went with Hannibal
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
Hereward the Wake
by Charles Kingsley
from Living Book Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Heroes of the Middle Ages
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$12.95
Horsecatcher, The
by Mari Sandoz
First Bison Book from Bison Books
for 6th-10th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.95
How the Heather Looks
by Joan Bodger, illustrated by Mark Lang
Reprint from Living Book Press
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.99
Illustrated Wreck of the Whaleship Essex
by Owen Chase
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
In Freedom's Cause
by G. A. Henty
from Living Book Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In the Days of Alfred the Great
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
In the Days of Queen Elizabeth
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
In the Days of Queen Elizabeth
by Eva March Tappan
from Living Book Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March Tappan
from Living Book Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.99
In the Days of William the Conqueror
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
In the Days of William the Conqueror
by Eva March Tappan
from Living Book Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
InDepthInfo on Modern European History
by William J. Rayment
from Unknown Publisher
for 9th-12th grade
in Miscellaneous History Curriculum (Location: HISCUR-MISC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Frank E. Schoonover
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Keeper of the Bees
by Gene Stratton-Porter, illustrated by Gordon Grant, decorations by Lee Thayer
from Purple House Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Kim
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
from Living Book Press
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Life of Christopher Columbus
by Edward Everett Hale
from Living Book Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Life of King Alfred
by Asser
from Living Book Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$6.99
Little Duke
by Charlotte M. Yonge
from Living Book Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Frank Merrill
from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Medical Corps Heroes of World War II
Landmark #120
by Wyatt Blassingame
2022 Reprint from Purple House Press
for 5th-9th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$15.99
Men of Iron
by Howard Pyle
2nd edition from Living Book Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
by Howard Pyle
from Living Book Press
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Miracle in the Hills
by Mary T. Martin Sloop with Legette Blythe
from McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Otto of the Silver Hand
by Howard Pyle
from Living Book Press
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Our Australasian Story
by H. E. Marshall
from Living Book Press
for 5th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$7.99
Our Empire Story
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-10th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$22.95
Our Empire Story - Black & White Edition
by H. E. Marshall
from Living Book Press
for 4th-10th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.99
Our Empire Story - Color Edition
by H. E. Marshall
from Living Book Press
for 4th-10th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$25.95
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
by Mark Twain
from Living Book Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$17.99
Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane & Ambrose Bierce
from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.45
Romulus
Makers of History series
by Jacob Abbott
from Yesterday's Classics
History for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Sailing on the Ice: And Other Stories from the Old Squire's Farm
from Rutledge Hill Press
for 4th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$18.98
Scarlet Pimpernel
by Baroness Orczy
from SeaWolf Press
Action/Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.95
Scotland's Story
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$17.95
Scotland's Story (B&W)
by H. E. Marshall
from Living Book Press
for 5th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
Scotland's Story (full-color)
by H. E. Marshall
from Living Book Press
for 5th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$22.99
Simon Bolivar the Liberator
by Guillermo A. Sherwell
Reprint from Kessinger Publishing
for 9th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Song of Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
Spell of the Yukon
by Robert W. Service
from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
Stories From Livy
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
History for 6th-9th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$11.95
Stories From Livy
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
History for 6th-9th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$11.95
Stories From The Faerie Queene
by Edmund Spenser, retold by Mary MacLeod
from Living Book Press
for 8th-10th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$12.99
Stories From the Greek Tragedians
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-9th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$11.95
Story of Europe
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
European History Reference for 8th-10th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$15.95
Story of Europe
by H. E. Marshall
from Ostara Publications
European History Reference for 8th-10th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
Story of Joan of Arc
by Andrew Lang
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.99
Story of Joan of Arc
by Andrew Lang
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Story of the Greeks
by H. A. Guerber
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-9th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$15.95
Story of the Greeks
by H. A. Guerber
from Living Book Press
for 7th-9th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$10.99
Story of the Last Days of Jerusalem
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
History for 7th-10th grade
in Ancient Israel (Location: HISW-ANIS)
$10.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Persian War
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-10th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$12.95
Story of the Romans
by H. A. Guerber
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-9th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$15.95
Story of the Romans
by H. A. Guerber
from Living Book Press
for 7th-9th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$10.99
Tod of the Fens
by Elinor Whitney Field, Illustrated by Warwick Goble
from CreateSpace
for 6th-9th grade
1929 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.50
Viking Tales
by Jennie Hall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-10th grade
$10.95
Westward Ho!
by Charles Kingsley
from Living Book Press
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
White Company
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.36
Wonder Book for Girls and Boys
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Yesterday's Classics
Myths for 5th-10th grade
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Wonder Book for Girls and Boys
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Living Book Press
Myths for 5th-10th grade
$15.99
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