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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13 Colonies: Georgia
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1493 for Young People
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
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Abraham Lincoln's World
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Across Five Aprils
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Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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2023 Caldecott Honor Book
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Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
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All He Knew
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2021 Newbery Honor Book, 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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Along Came Galileo
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America and Vietnam
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Decades of American History
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Decades of American History
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America is Born
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
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American Plague
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2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
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American Yesterday
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Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
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Amos Fortune, Free Man
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1951 Newbery Medal winner
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Angel on the Square
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
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Answering the Cry for Freedom
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Antarctica: Escape from Disaster
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Apollo on the Moon
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Ark, The
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2021 Revision from Purple House Press
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Art of Keeping Cool
by Janet Taylor Lisle
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2001 Scott O'Dell Award
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Atlas of North American Exploration
by Glyndwr Williams, William H. Goetzmann
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Avion My Uncle Flew
by Cyrus Fisher, illustrated by Richard Floethe
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1947 Newbery Honor Book
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Awakening of Europe
Story of the World Series #3
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Awakening of Europe
Story of the World Series #3
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B. Franklin, Printer
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Bad News for Outlaws
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Balloon Boy of San Francisco
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Basher Five-Two
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Battle of the Little Bighorn
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
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Beneath the Cat's Claw
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Benjamin Franklin
Heroes of History
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Betsy and the Emperor
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Betsy and the Emperor
by Staton Rabin
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Beware, Princess Elizabeth
A Young Royals Book
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by Jerry Stanley
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Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
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Black Heroes of the American Revolution
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Black Man in America
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Blackbird Girls
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Blades of Freedom
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Bletchley Riddle
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$8.49
Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
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Blue Birds
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1941 Newbery Honor Book
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Bold Journey
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Bold Journey
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Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
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Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
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$17.99
Boris
by Jaap Ter Haar
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$10.95
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Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Hilda Van Stockum
from Purple House Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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