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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74 Items found Print
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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
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Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
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Balloon Boy of San Francisco
by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
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Battle of Seattle
by Douglas Bond
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Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Veritas Press
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
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By Far Euphrates
by Deborah Alcock
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Calico Captive
by Elizabeth George Speare
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Captain, My Captain
by Deborah Meroff
from Inheritance Publications
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
from Hyperion/Madison Press
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
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Czar, The
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
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Day of Pleasure
by Isaac Bashevis Singer
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$10.99
Defender of the Faith
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 2
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
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$13.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Doctor Adrian
Reformation Trail Series #13
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
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$15.95
Done and Dared in Old France
Huguenot Inheritance Series #7
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
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$14.95
Doomed Queen Anne
A Young Royals Book
by Carolyn Meyer
from Harcourt
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$11.99
Driven into Exile
Huguenot Inheritance Series #5
by Charlotte Maria Tucker
from Inheritance Publications
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$9.95
Duncan's War
Crown & Covenant Series #1
by Douglas Bond
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Escape
Huguenot Inheritance Series #1
by A. Van der Jagt
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False Coin, True Coin
by Lois Hoadley Dick
from Bob Jones University Press
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$6.99
Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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$10.99
Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
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$8.99
Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
1st edition from Rabbit Room Press
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$16.99
For God and the King
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 3
by Marjorie Bowen
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Gunner's Run
by Rick Barry
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Guns of Thunder
Faith and Freedom Trilogy #1
by Doug Bond
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Hero of Spionkop
The Louis Wessels Commando #2
by Lawrence Penning
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Hornblower and the Atropos
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Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower Series #3
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Hornblower During the Crisis
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How They Kept the Faith
Huguenot Inheritance Series #3
by Grace Raymond
from Inheritance Publications
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$19.90
I Will Maintain
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 1
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In This Hour
by Rudolf Van Reest
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Jar of Dreams
by Yoshiko Uchida
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Journey Through the Night
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Journeyman
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King's Arrow
Crown & Covenant Series #2
by Doug Bond & Matthew Bird
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Les Miserables
Modern Library
by Victor Hugo, translated by Julie Rose
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Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower Series #2
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Lion of Modderspruit
The Louis Wessels Commando #1
by Lawrence Penning
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Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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Lysbeth
by H. Rider Haggard
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Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Hornblower Series #1
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Night Divided
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
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Not for Crown or Sceptre
Reformation Trail Series #15
by Deborah Alcock
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$25.95
Ocean-Born Mary
by Lois Lenski
1st Edition Thus from Purple House Press
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Rebel's Keep
Crown & Covenant Series #3
by Doug Bond
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Refugees
Huguenot Inheritance Series #6
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Roger the Ranger
by Eliza F. Pollard
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Scout of Christiaan de Wet
The Louis Wessels Commando #3
by Lawrence Penning
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Secret Mission
Huguenot Inheritance Series #2
by A. Van der Jagt
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Slopes of War
by N. A. Perez
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Soldier of Virginia
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Spanish Brothers
Reformation Trail Series #10
by Deborah Alcock
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Squalls Before War
by Ned Bustard
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Story of the Trapp Family Singers
by Maria Augusta Trapp
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Three Men Came to Heidelberg
by Thea Van Halsema
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Under Drake's Flag
by G. A. Henty
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$6.99
Upon the Head of the Goat
by Aranka Siegal
First Square Fish: Aug.2012 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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1982 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.99
Uprising
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Simon and Schuster
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Victor of Nooitgedacht
The Louis Wessels Commando #4
by Lawrence Penning
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Historical Fiction for 5th-10th grade
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Warriors Don't Cry
by Melba Pattillo Beals
Reprint from Washington Square Press
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We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg
by Alida Sims Malkus
Reprint from Dover Publications
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We Were There at the Boston Tea Party
by Robert N. Webb
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We Were There at the Driving of the Golden Spike
by David Shepherd, William K. Plummer
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We Were There at the First Airplane Flight
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by Lazlo Matulay
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White Seneca
by William W. Canfield
from Salem Ridge Press
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$10.50
With Lee in Virginia
by G. A. Henty
from Dover Publications
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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$16.95
With Pipe, Paddle and Song
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Elizabeth Yates
2nd edition from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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Words on Fire
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
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$8.99
Young Huguenots
Huguenot Inheritance Series #4
by Edith Floyer
from Inheritance Publications
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