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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94 Items found Print
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Abe Lincoln
Landmark Series
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Adoniram Judson
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Albert Einstein: Young Thinker
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Amelia Earhart - Coloring Book
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Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Amos Fortune, Free Man
by Elizabeth Yates, illustrated by Nora S. Unwin
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1951 Newbery Medal winner
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Annie Oakley: Young Marksman
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Basher Five-Two
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
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Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer
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Betsy Ross: Designer of our Flag
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Betty Greene
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Brother Andrew
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
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Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
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Buffalo Bill: Frontier Daredevil
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt!
by Jean Fritz
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C. T. Studd
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Captain John Smith
Heroes of History
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Clarence Jones
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
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Corrie Ten Boom
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Crispus Attucks: Black Leader of Colonial Patriots
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Daniel Boone: Young Hunter and Tracker
Childhood of Famous Americans
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David Bussau
Christian Heroes: Then and Now
by Janet & Geoff Benge
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Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Dwight D. Eisenhower: Young Military Leader
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Flying to the Moon
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Freedom Train
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Freedom's Children
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Gentle Annie
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Fictionalized Biography for 4th-6th grade
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George Muller
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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George S. Paton: War Hero
Childhood of Famous Americans
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George Washington
Childhood of Famous Americans / History's All-Stars
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George Washington, Spymaster
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George Washington: Our First Leader
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Gladys Aylward
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Great Little Madison
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Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers
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Harriet Tubman
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Harriet Tubman
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Hidden
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House of Dies Drear
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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
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Immigration for 2nd-6th grade
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In Their Own Words: Lewis and Clark
by George Sullivan
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Jackie Robinson: Young Sports Trailblazer
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Herb Dunn
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Jacob DeShazer
Christian Heroes: Then and Now
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Jim Elliot
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John Glen: Young Astronaut
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Michael Burgan
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Jonathan Goforth
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Kidnapped Prince
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Klaus-Dieter John
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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$11.99
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt
by C. Coco De Young
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Lights In Lisuland
CF4Kids Trail Blazers
by Irene Howat
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Loren Cunningham
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Lost Star
by Patricia Lauber
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Mark Twain: Young Writer
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Mariam E. Mason
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Martin Luther King, Jr.: Young Man with a Dream
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Meet Christopher Columbus
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Meet George Washington
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Meet George Washington
by Joan Heilbroner
First Scholastic Printing 2001 from Scholastic Inc.
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Molly Pitcher: Young Patriot
Childhood of Famous Americans
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Neil Armstrong: Young Flyer
Childhood of Famous Americans
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One More Valley, One More Hill
by Linda Lowery
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One Thousand Paper Cranes
by Takayuki Ishii
2001 Printing from Laurel-Leaf Books
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Orville Wright
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
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$11.99
Paul Brand
Christian Heroes: Then and Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Paul Revere: Boston Patriot
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Augusta Stevenson
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Pocahontas and the Strangers
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from Scholastic Inc.
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Robert E. Lee: Young Confederate
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Helen Albee Monsell
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred Taylor
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1977 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Puffin Modern Classics
by Mildred Taylor
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1977 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Rowland Bingham
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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$11.99
Sacagawea: American Pathfinder
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Meryl Henderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Shoes for Everyone
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Sojourner Truth
by Patricia & Frederick McKissack
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Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Squanto
by Clyde Robert Bulla
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Biography for 3rd-5th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Stonewall
by Jean Fritz & Stephen Gammell
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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$6.99
Story of Harriet Tubman
Dell Yearling Biography
by Kate McMullan
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Story of Sacajawea
by Della Rowland
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Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Story of Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor
Scholastic Biographies
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.50 (3 in stock)
Teddy Roosevelt: Young Rough Rider
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Edd Winfield Parks
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Thomas Jefferson: Third President of the United States
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Helen Albee Monsell
1989 Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
To Be a Pilgrim
by Joyce Reason
1980th edition from Christian Literature Crusade
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold
by Jean Fritz
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Trial by Ice
by K. M. Kostyal
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for 4th-8th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Laurel-Leaf Books
for 5th-8th grade
1996 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Who Was Christopher Columbus?
Who Was?...Series
by Barbara Bader, illustrated by Nancy Harrison
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Wilbur and Orville Wright: Young Fliers
by Augusta Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Wilfred Grenfell
by Linda Finlayson
from Christian Focus Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
in Light Keepers (Location: BIO-LIGHT)
William Booth
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Wright Brothers
Landmark Series
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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$6.99
Wright Brothers At Kitty Hawk
by Donald J. Sobol
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)