A Christian Worldview and the Historian

 

Should the role of a historian be altered by their Christian worldview? Should their work reflect their perspectives? The answers to these questions are debated at length within the realm of academia. However, I believe there must exist a fine line between objective analyzation of the past and the Christian’s frame of reference. As John Fea suggests, a Christian may use their scriptural understanding “to enhance historical” interpretations but should refrain from using scripture to explicitly define the reasons for certain events occurring. (1) Individuals are not, as error-prone humans, capable of knowing God’s plan; their explanations would always fall short. Nevertheless, historians can use the past as a way to teach moral lessons and to inspire the people of today. The historian should be detached to a certain extent and abstain from emphasizing any particular bias or discernment regarding someone’s character based on their actions. Those that are influenced by a historian’s work should be able to determine for themselves the moral nature of a person based on properly investigated research. Dr. Samuel Smith reminds us that as historians we  are never working towards discerning spiritual meaning in past events and neither are we meant to over secularize history. (2) Peter Marshall and David Manuel did just this when writing their book titled "The Light and the Glory" by suggesting that Columbus failed at the mission set forth by God because of his personal misdeeds. So many questions arise from this and assertions such as these are misleading and ultimately create confusion. (3) 

Landing of Columbus. Library of Congress

The Christian historian is equipped with a certain set of tools that allow them to view the past with a sense of morality. A historian should empirically study history and interpret the past without passing judgement. Furthermore, they inherently recognize that, regardless of their contributions, every person is made in the image of God and their stories deserve to be told. Their lives have value. Historians should avoid making the assertion that any person or group of people were right or wrong – evil or righteous – based on their actions. Humans are complex and must be viewed as such.  “History…teaches us that we live in a broken world that will not be completely fixed on this side of eternity, “and our relationship with God and the Bible “helps us to better explain the human condition.” (5)

Thomas Nast, "Move on!" Has the Native American no rights that the naturalized American is bound to respect?, Library of Congress

An overview of historiography tells us that certain groups of people have been overlooked, and modern historians are working to incorporate stories of those who were cast aside. This is not a political issue, instead it is one that brings to light the importance of every person and of every experience. Christians acknowledge that these stories are equally as impactful and provide a more complicated view of the past. “The primary task of the historian is to describe the way that humans—created by God in his image—have “endured” and “inhabited” the mysteries of life.” (7)

Dorothea Lange, Migrant Agricultural Worker's Family. Library of Congress.

I believe that as a Christian, I have the responsibility to recognize my own limitations and my own biases. I should morally approach my work so that I accurately depict the events in a manner that is of service to the public. Every person in my view is valuable and complex; they are equally as inextricable from history as anyone else. My research should rely on evidence not my opinions. My worldview is important in relation to my field of work because my aim is to always depict the past as accurately as I can, so that others can gain something from it.

1 John Fea, Why Study History (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2013), 29.

2 Samuel Smith, “What is History and Why it Matters” (video lecture in HIST 491 at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA), 1:09.

3 John Fea, Why Study History, 30.

4 Landing of Columbus,1860-1880, lithograph, hand-colored, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a06594/.

5 John Fea, Why Study History, 36.

6 Thomas Nast, "Move on!" Has the Native American no rights that the naturalized American is bound to respect?, Wood engraving, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Divison, https://www.loc.gov/item/2001696066/.

7 John Fea, Why Study History, 34.

8 Dorothea Lange, Migrant agricultural worker's family. Seven hungry children. Mother aged thirty-two. Father is native Californian. Nipomo, California, 1936, Negative, Library of Congress Prints and Photograph Division, https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.03054/.