From Jesus to Your Grandma: The Importance of Studying History
One of the most helpful Seminary classes that I’ve taken in recent semesters was Dr. Albert Mohler’s class on the history of Evangelicalism. I’d wager that most Christians today probably can’t define the term, much less trace its historical roots or controversies. Most people, Christians included, likely assume that it’s merely a voting bloc with a certain right-leaning bent or a cultural identity reserved mainly for Bible-belt dwellers. Without studying the history of Evangelicalism, there’s simply no way to know.
I didn’t know much about the study of history before taking Seminary classes. But here I was, sitting under Dr. Mohler’s teaching, learning about the immense value of studying history. And specifically, recent history. He opened his first lecture with a gripping quote, and immediately I was hooked:
“Something happened in between Jesus and your Grandmother. And you should know about it!”
So, in the spirit of Dr. Mohler’s exhortation, I want to continue in his footsteps and exhort you, reader, to consider with me the immense value and the how-tos of studying history.
Why study history?
As the oft-said Churchill quote goes, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Studying history is, first and foremost, a learning experience. It gives us examples, both good and bad, of the peoples, communities, and ideas that have preceded us.
C.S. Lewis is also often quoted on his quips about “chronological snobbery” — the subtle way of thinking that sees previous generations as only foolish and unenlightened — and he’s right to point out its temptation. Studying history has a sort of humbling effect on us that guards us against feelings of generational pride. The human condition has not changed since the fall. There is, in fact, “nothing new under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:9), and nowhere is this more apparent than in the study of history.
I want to propose that for the Christian, studying history — both Church history and non-Church history alike — has several valuable results for our own personal faith and devotion to God.
To see God’s providential hand at work
The refrain of Psalm 107 rings true in the study of history:
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! (Ps 107:8,15,21,31)
The point is that God is always active in His creation, and believers are expressly commanded to praise God for his works throughout history. The theological doctrine for this is called providentialism — the study of God’s purposes throughout history. Its name comes from the doctrine of providence, for which John Piper gives a helpful definition:
The providence of God is his purposeful sovereignty by which he will be completely successful in the achievement of his ultimate goal for the universe. God’s providence carries his plans into action, guides all things toward his ultimate goal, and leads to the final consummation.1
In the doctrine of God’s providence, God is both presiding over every event (including evil) and intimately involved with the minute details of his creation.
Many today, even in the church, critique the study of history from a viewpoint of providentialism. They argue that God clearly has purposes in history, but there’s no way we can know what they are. Human knowledge is limited, God’s ways are ultimately inscrutable, and seeing history this way only reinforces biased historical interpretations, as opposed to actually understanding history.
The problem with those who would oppose providentialism is that the Bible expressly interprets history this way. God is just as intimately involved in the Exodus from Egypt as He is with the casting of lots for who would be the apostle to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:26). The worldview and theology that Scripture presents is one that “trains us to see the world as a whole and our personal lives as the sphere of God’s activity.”2
God is intimately involved with all of human history with a glorious redemptive end in mind. Studying history gives us a (quite large) window into God’s activity throughout the history of redemption. Ultimately, it’s an exercise in humility as it widens our view of God and His sovereign plan among all nations and all generations.
To see how God has sustained His Church
As a subset of studying history broadly, studying Church history is a specific endeavor relating to God’s activity throughout the ages in and through His Church. Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matt 16:18), and it is quite evident through studying Church history that God has protected and sustained His Church in many ways throughout history.
Church history also gives us a realistic portrayal of the people that make up the Church in every age: sinners. Peering into Church history is like looking into a window, with all its jaggedly broken pieces and multicolored stained glass complexity, that allows us to see how God always uses imperfect people and an imperfect Church to accomplish his sovereign purposes. Ultimately, seeing how God has sustained his Church throughout the ages bolsters our trust and faith in the God who is able to keep his saints and present them blameless before the throne on the final Day (Jude 24).
To learn from others’ wisdom (or lack thereof)
Studying history also gives us examples—both faithful and unfaithful, good and bad— of those who have gone before us. There are many examples of God’s faithfulness at work through mighty men of faith, such as in the first Great Awakening or the height of the Arian controversy in 4th century Rome. There are also many examples of those who have gone astray, from which we can learn valuable lessons.
Have you ever thought about Jonathan Edwards’ morning routine? What about Winston Churchill’s speech-writing process? Or even Augustine’s typical weekday? Historical study helps you answer all of these questions, and they can be immensely helpful through the power of learning by example.
Besides specific practices of people in history, studying their faithfulness can be profoundly encouraging. Christian history can be seen as a sort of cloud of historic witnesses in the likes of Hebrews 12, serving as helpful guides, counselors, and friends on our pilgrimage to the heavenly city.
Additionally, studying and learning from bad examples in the past always has a spiritual effect on us. There’s a reason that Jesus says simply in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Remembering those who have fallen functions as an exhortation to us to press on and continue fighting the good fight of faith.
To be exposed to other ways of thinking
Historical study also gives us exposure to ideas that we may not be likely to hear about otherwise. History is full of people, and those people have had lots of ideas, both good and bad. This is true for studying philosophy, war strategy, or economics, to be sure, but it’s especially true in the Christian sense for studying theology.
The probability that you’ve come up with a theological idea or issue no one has ever thought of before is slim, and there are countless theologians who have gone before us who have thought through a wide array of theological challenges and questions. They have good answers. All it takes is a little bit of study to dig up their wisdom and ways of thinking.
Studying Church history also gives us poor examples to learn from, such as heresies and popular false teachings throughout different time periods. These poor examples of diversions from the faith are always accompanied by a faithful church, allowing us to see how believers contended for the gospel in their day and age. Thus, studying the faithfulness of the Church amongst various heresies strengthens our desire and ability to contend for the gospel in the modern day. It puts into perspective the theological issues of our day and helps us to be better versed in well-trodden theological territory.
Additionally, studying the ways that God has preserved His Church through history clarifies essential doctrines that must be contended for (orthodoxy) and non-essential doctrines alike. For example, if you read about the reformers and try to understand why they died for their doctrine of communion over and against the Roman Catholic teaching of their day, it may deeply encourage you to contend for the gospel on your own.3
How to study church history
There are surely many more reasons than these to study history as a Christian. It’s clear that studying history, and especially Church history, is valuable and helps us to become less chronologically snobbish.
But how can we go about it? Where do we start? The vast array of historical study material that lies before readers in the modern age is truly astonishing. In our day, we have virtually unlimited access to a host of valuable resources with the advent of the internet. Let me suggest a few methods of historical study to hopefully whet your appetite.
Method 1: Read about Christian history
The first method I’d suggest is to read about Christian history in broad generality and its sweeping movements or specific controversies.
Some books that accomplish this well:
Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley
The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez (2 volumes, split by time period)
2000 Years of Christ’s Power by Nick Needham (5 volumes, split by time period)
Method 2: Read biographies of people in Church history
I’ve been thinking recently about how Spurgeon once said that his library was divided in half —
“one side is for biographies, and the other side is for everything else!”
I think biographies can be really helpful in understanding the complexity of humanity and gleaning wisdom from someone else’s viewpoint and experience. As such, I’ve been trying to fill my personal library with more biographies of people whose lives I want to read about, such as missionaries, preachers, and popular theologians.
Here are a couple of biographies that just recently made it to my shelf and others that I love:
Borden of Yale — the biography of a 20th-century millionaire-turned-missionary who died before he ever made it to the field
Spurgeon: A life — a new account of the Prince of Preachers himself, the most well-known minister of the gospel in the 19th century
George Müller: Delighted in God — a biography constructed from the journals of a man who recorded over twenty thousand direct answers to prayer in his lifetime as he ran an orphanage on prayer alone
A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards — A (much) shorter version of Marsden’s critically acclaimed biography of Jonathan Edwards, arguably “the most brilliant theologian ever born on American soil”
Method 3: Read historical theology
I’ve heard Mark Dever refer to the books on his shelf (biographies and treatises alike) as his “friends”. In other words, reading is merely a different form of conversation that’s more one-sided as the author walks you through his argument. One way to get a pulse on what historical figures thought is through reading their own words. This is essentially what theologians mean by historical theology, asking questions of what specific people thought about God.
Historical theology asks how Calvin thought about God. Systematic theology asks how you should think about God. If you’re doing historical theology, your goal is to understand, from a historical perspective, what Calvin meant. But if you’re reading Calvin to deepen your systematic theology, you’re wanting to see how you can learn from Calvin’s application of reason to the scriptures.4
I haven’t read many good introductions to historical theology other than Michael Reeves’s Theologians You Should Know. The blurb description of his book is apt, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to think alongside some of the most impactful theologians throughout history:
Whether you realize it or not, you are the beneficiary of centuries of careful study and reflection on God's Word. The writings and teachings of figures from the past are crucial to what the church believes today. But just like intriguing guests of honor at a dinner party, these theologians can be intimidating to get to know. Introducing you to the lives and thought of figures such as the Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Karl Barth, and others, this book makes the writings of these significant theologians accessible and approachable—opening up for you the riches of church history and enlarging your vision of God and his plan for the world.
Take up and read — history!
All things considered, studying history is valuable, especially for the Christian. It’s immensely important. Every theologian—and thus, every Christian—should strive to be a good historian!
My hope is that you feel more equipped by my writing to study the works of the Lord throughout history so that you would delight in them. That’s because ultimately, all of history will culminate in the eternal glory and delight of God’s redemptive work across the historical timeline.
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. (Psalm 111:2)
Happy reading!
Vern Poythress, Redeeming our Thinking About History, ch. 23 page 196
David Platt preached a sermon on martyrdom at T4G several years ago. It’s a weeper. You can find it here.