The Importance of History
by
Steve Wilkins
As we engage in the battle for freedom and reformation in our
generation, we must keep in mind that central and indeed, indispensable to
freedom is Biblical Christianity. There has never been and will never be, true
freedom apart from the one true religion. Only as the Son of God makes us free,
are we free in any true sense of the word (John 8:32-36).
The Bible teaches us that man since the Fall is not
naturally "free" but enslaved to sin and Satan (Rom. 6:16-17). This
spiritual bondage unless broken by God's grace, will always result in political
bondage. A people convinced in the Bible's teachings however, are almost
impossible to enslave. Thus, political revolutionaries have always targeted
Christians and Christianity for destruction in the first stages of their
revolutions. This has been the case in every atheistic revolution of this
century (Russia, China, Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, etc., etc.).
This attack takes on many forms depending upon the nation.
The assault on Christianity in this country has been central to the
socialist/revolutionary strategy. But because of the depth of the Christian
roots of this nation, the anti-Christian offensive has had to be much more
subtle than in other countries. One of the key areas of attack has been that of
history.
History is a powerful ally. A fact that revolutionaries have
been quick to realize. A nation deceived about its past can be easily
manipulated in the present. Those who write the history books mold the thinking
and set the agenda of the next generation (and sometimes a number of future
generations). For this reason, one of the first things insurrectionists seek to
do is re-write history from their own perspective. To rob a nation of its
history is to rob it of the strength and wisdom of the past. It also, in a
peculiarly effective way, biases the minds of men as they consider the
alternatives before them. That which is considered plausible and acceptable is
largely determined by what one believes to have occurred in the past. This
makes the revision of history extremely important.
We have all heard of the radical historical revisionism
carried out by the revolutionaries in other lands. What we must realize is that
this has occurred in this nation as well. And we are in grave danger as a
consequence. Modern historians have been and are for the most part, subversives.
As lackeys of the "revolution", they have re-written our history in
order to discredit and defame Christianity and its influence in this nation. To
make way for "change", the ground had to be cleared of the irksome
relics of our Christian past.
Wendell Phillips, the famed abolitionist of the nineteenth
century, once stated, "One half of history is loose conjecture and much of
the rest is the writer's opinion...Most men see facts not with their eyes, but
with their prejudices." In other words, there is no such thing as
neutrality.
No one is "neutral" philosophically or
religiously. Everyone, including "objective" historians, look at the
facts in terms of their faith -- be that faith Biblical or non-Biblical. The
facts do not "speak for themselves" (as we have so often heard), they
are mute without an interpreter.
Take, for example, the "fact" of a man getting
struck by lightning. The way you understand this incident (and what you say
about it) depends to a large extent upon what you believe. If you don't believe
the Bible, you will likely view this incident as a "stroke of bad
luck." But if you are a Christian who believes what the Bible says about
God, you know that God causes the lightning to strike the mark (Job 36:32).
What you observed was not an act of blind fate, but the hand of God.
The unbeliever is not intentionally lying when he describes
the sad scene as "bad luck" -- but he lies nonetheless. The true view
and right understanding of all things comes from a knowledge of God as revealed
in the Scriptures (Proverbs 1:8). As R. J. Rushdoony has said, "Because
all things are made by God, nothing is understandable in terms of itself but
only in terms of God the Creator." The judgments of one who rejects God's
truth are bound to be more or less corrupt and erroneous.
Unbelieving historians, as they observe the
"facts" of history have many times drawn extremely corrupt
conclusions from what they have seen. Sometimes they have intentionally
distorted the facts, in order to deceive. Like the modern news media, they let
you see only what they want you to see. But always they see facts "not
with their eyes, but with their prejudices."
If we would not allow unbelievers to interpret the Bible for
us, why should we allow them to interpret history for us? We must interpret it
for ourselves. We should not be surprised that when we look at the
"facts" we come away with some very different and even contradictory
conclusions.
There is another way in which we have been robbed of our
past however: Our history has simply not been taught. As a result, most people
are like newborn babes, unaware of anything that has happened prior to their
birth. Modern "education" has only exacerbated the problem. Textbooks
not only contain many (and sometimes quite laughable) errors, but they also
ignore vast portions of the content of the past. More space is given to
"pop heroes" (Marilyn Monroe and Elvis) than to the true heroes of our
nation. Terribly abbreviated (and horribly perverted) explanations for past
events are given. As a consequence, what most American think happened in this
country never did -- at least not in the way we have been told.
I am constantly amazed at the number of men I come across in
my reading who were very prominent and influential in their day, but are utter
strangers to me (and unfortunately, to most Americans). They have been totally
forgotten. Not surprisingly, most of these forgotten men were outstanding
Christian leaders. They have been purposefully overlooked to preserve the
delusion of a secularized past.
As a result, most people are as ignorant of what has
happened in the world (and in this country) as they would be had they been
reared in the aboriginal Outback of Australia. More and more, I find that it is
not so much that students have been given erroneous accounts of the past so
much as they have not been told anything of the past good or bad! They are as
unenlightened about history as New Guinea pygmies are of Mozart.
In Psalm 78:1-7 the Psalmist observes that one of the
crucial elements in determining a nation's future prosperity and continuance is
a clear understanding of God's dealings with it. We are commanded to teach our
children the glorious things that God has done in the past in order that they
might know and declare them to their children. All this with the ultimate end
that they might set their hope in God (v. 7).
You see here a glorious covenant continuity: Four
generations are mentioned and involved in the continuation of covenant culture.
This indicates that one of the critical factors in the preservation and
promotion of Biblical faith and the blessings the accompany covenant
faithfulness is a clear sight and understanding of the great works of God in
the history of the nation.
Thus it is that when Israel apostatizes from the faith, we
find that one of the chief factors in their apostasy is they forgot the mighty
works of God in their behalf or that they simply were never told. We dare not
allow this to happen to our children.
As Christians, we all have been give the job of educating
our generation in the truth about all things. This is especially true of those
who are parents. Our job is to train up a generation which will trust and obey
the Living God. The crises we face in this nation demand leaders who understand
the times and know what we ought to do. The times demand bold, faithful men and
women who will walk by faith not by sight, not fearing the threats nor being
ensnared by the flatteries of men.
This job cannot be accomplished, or, at least, it will not
be accomplished well, if the children we train do not know the mighty works God
has done in this country. This is the place of history.