Thoughts on History
January 29, 2007
Dear Friends,
There is an old adage that “history is written by the victor.†While this may be true in many instances, it is not an absolute truth. Sometimes history is written by the media or well-spread lies or rumors. Sometimes history is, in fact, written by the loser.
The apostle Paul serves well as an example of historical vagaries. If Paul’s enemies had written the history of the Apostle instead of God in the Bible, how different would that story have been? No doubt, they would have repeated the slander that Paul was teaching people to sin in order to show God righteous (Rom. 3:8). Still today, theologians try and rewrite the life of Paul. There is a vocal group of theologians today that suggest that Paul was a homosexual to advance their gay rights agenda.
Perhaps even more meaningful is the attempts both past, present and future to rewrite the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most widely discussed attempt to rewrite the Lord’s history currently is that Jesus was married and survived the crucifixion. This is not new news, but is a hot topic nevertheless.
Long story short, history is not always as it seems. History is sometimes rewritten for the sake of truth. Too often it is rewritten for more sinister means.
History has a greater and more important role to play than knowledge for the sake of knowledge or simple entertainment. First, history may be in the past, but it certainly shapes the present. We need not go further than the front pages of our newspaper today to see this. Are US military/foreign policies as well as public opinion being shaped by the Vietnam war over 30 years past? The answer is obviously “yes.†How much the Vietnam War is an influence will be left for historians and others to debate in the future, but the “Vietnam factor†is considerable.
The second reason we benefit from the study of history is to see how we arrived where we are. This is tricky endeavor, however. Napoleon said “History is a myth that men agree to believe.†How many professing Christians today understand the circuitous route that Orthodox Christianity has taken to arrive at many of its key doctrines and how significantly different they are than what the first disciples of Christ taught? For me personally, understanding the lies is as interesting and meaningful as is understanding the truth. What was their motive in changing history? How did they go about changing history? Answers to these questions are not only enlightening, they are instructive. Once these patterns are understood, we can see how it occurs today. Sadly, many times we revise history ourselves by assuming that the ways things are now are as they have always been. Rest assured, historical revisionists are at work today even in the brotherhood. Those who revise history are fighting for mindshare with present purposes for past deeds. If we are diligent about checking our facts, we can possibly avoid being deceived.
The last reason that we should study history is that our thoughts, like it or not, are shaped by our perception of history. If this were not true, then why argue whether or not the Holocaust occurred, for example? What we believe concerning the Holocaust plays into many of our thoughts such as the validity of the creation of the nation of Israel, the “justness†of the Allied cause in World War II and even the sanity of the current regime in Iran. Since history shapes our thoughts, we need to be careful and discerning in our consideration of history—both past and present.
“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.†(Deuteronomy 32:7)
Have a great week,
