A Christian worldview is defined as the framework of
ideas and beliefs through which a Christian individual, group, or culture
interprets the world and interacts with it. A Christian worldview in history means
that as an historian, we analyze history of the world by looking past the
historical events to see the full perspective of God’s work in the world.
Christians often view history through the concepts of creation, the fall of
man, redemption, and restoration. We believe everything that has happened in
the past, good and bad, has a purpose. Christian historians must pay attention
to God’s activity throughout history and the ultimate goal that God is leading
us toward.
A Christian worldview of history is not just comparing
and contrasting secular historical events to biblical historical events. A
Christian historian is not in the business of studying God but they are in the
business of studying humans. According to Fea, we are not to use the past too freely to promote our
own present-day agendas. A Christian historian’s primary responsibility is explanation
and understanding, not moral criticism. Christian historians should speak or write
ethically about events in the past with caution so that preaching does not
overshadow historical interpretation. Also, when a Christian historian engages
in moralizing about the past, it should be characterized by mature historical
understanding and mature Christian moral thinking. To engage in moralizing the
past, a Christian historian should have an adequate theological and biblical
understanding of the Christian tradition. Lastly, Christian historians should
make moral judgments in an implicit rather than explicit manner and remember to
historical figures as morally complex individuals before casting judgment on
them.
Sources:
Fea, John. Why Study History?: Reflecting on the Importance of the Past. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
