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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182 Items found Print
Active Filters: 11th grade (Ages 16-17), Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
1776
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
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by C. S. Forester
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Admiral of the Ocean Sea
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Adventures of Buffalo Bill
by Col. William F. Cody
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Adventures of Captain Bonneville
by Washington Irving, illustrated by Robert Reynolds
Klickitat from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Air Forces of the World
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Album of Memories
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Album of the Civil War
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Amazing Mr. Doolittle
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America in the Air War
by Edward Jablonski
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America's Heroes
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American Heritage History of the American Revolution
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
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American Spirit
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Andersonville
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1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
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Apollo on the Moon
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Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
by Benjamin Franklin
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B. Franklin, Printer
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Becoming Mrs. Lewis
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Beyond Stateliest Marble
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Big Burn
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Black Man in America
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Blow Ye Winds Westerly
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Bombs and Blessings
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Brave Men
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C. S. Lewis: A Life
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Call of Duty
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Carry a Big Stick
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Century
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Cheer the Lonesome Traveller
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Christopher Columbus
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Civil War Battles
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Civil War: 1861-1865
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Codfish Musket
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1937 Newbery Honor Book
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Comes the Comrade!
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Diary of a Young Girl
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Early American Literature
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Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
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Edwardian Lady
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Empires Lost and Won
by Albert Marrin
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Endurance
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Escape from Corregidor
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Forgotten Founding Father
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Frederick Douglass In His Own Words
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From Flappers to Flivvers...
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From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya
by Ruth Tucker
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George MacDonald
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George Whitefield: Wayfaring Witness
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Gettysburg: Battle & Battlefield
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Give Me Liberty
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Grapes of Wrath
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Great Adventures That Changed Our World
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Greater Journey
by David McCullough
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Guns Off Cape Ann
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Hammond Atlas of the 20th Century
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
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History of Human Society: Pioneer America
The History of Human Society
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House Divided
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How the Merrimac Won
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Image of War: 1861-1865 Volume 1
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In Defense of Liberty
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2004 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat and Renewal
by Richard Nixon
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Inventing America: The Life of Benjamin Franklin
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Ishi: Last of His Tribe
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Jefferson Davis and His Generals
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John Brown Russwurm
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John Brown's Body
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Lady of Arlington
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Last Men Out
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Last of the Old West
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Leafy Rivers
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Lewis & Clark Voyage of Discovery
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Lexington Goes Down
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Liberty: The Statue and the American Dream
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Life & Times of Louis XIV
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Life & Times of Peter the Great
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Life & Times of Washington
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Life and Diary of David Brainerd
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Life and Letters of Benjamin Franklin
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Livingstone and his African Journeys
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Longitude
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Lord Hornblower
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Luftwaffe
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Maria
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Mathew Brady
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Mosby's Rangers
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Mountain Men
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Mustang at War
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National Geographic Society: 100 Years of Adventure and Discovery
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