Americans will make a clean break with the tyranny of tradi-
tion and extend freedom and equality to all, America can be
great. We will become a nation where there is no such thing
as sin—where a brave new world swallows up mean-spirited
Bible-thumping.
Christian teachers of history are, of course, offended by
such an approach. Some, however, respond by jumping to
the opposite extreme. For them, teaching U. S. History is
about demonstrating that the Bible and Americanism both
stand for the same things. They then set about to show that
what America has been (up until the 1960s, that is) is a
pattern for how God wants nations everywhere to live.
From a Christian perspective, both extremes must be
rejected. The first approach has to be rejected because it
attacks the Bible’s authority in obvious ways. But the second
one also attacks the Bible, though in more subtle ways. First,
it treats certain historical figures as good and wise who,
by a biblical evaluation, were not. Second, it damages the
credibility of Scripture because it sets students up for believ-
ing the postmodernists. If the teachers who claim there is
absolute truth say that Benjamin Franklin was a Christian
or that Thomas Jefferson was a lover of religion, then what
will their students conclude when they find that they have
been misled? Many of them will conclude that grand claims
regarding truth are really ploys for oppression—lies spoken
in the name of truth in order to press society backwards
toward a twisted view of justice.
But education from a Christian worldview is different
from both of these. It says that there is absolute truth. But
this truth does not have its source in a political party, any
period of history, or any movement formed by men. Truth
comes from God and His Word. The right approach then
uses the Bible to correct the past, as well as praise it. History
is a record of the decisions of many people. From the Word
of God, we can discern that some of those decisions were
good, and some were evil. These decisions are important
because they are the same sorts of decisions we must make
now in our own generation, and later on in the next. As
we examine the past through the lens of Scripture, we gain
wisdom. We develop skill in living lives of good works
wherever God calls us—whether in the home, at the polling
booth or in Congress.
So when a Christian teaches the 1820s and 30s, she does
not hide from the students that Andrew Jackson broke
treaties with the Cherokees and that perhaps 4,000 of them
died when they were forced to walk the Trail of Tears. But
"Without belief in ABSOLUTE TRUTH,
the right approach is not possible."
she then leads the students in evaluating these events from
Scripture, pointing them to passages like Joshua 9:16-21, 2
Samuel 23:3-4, and Mark 12:31. She also explains that many
Christians were outraged at what was happening to the
Cherokees. Some petitioned the government to honor its
treaties and do what was just. Some Christian missionaries
even went to jail trying to protect the Cherokees. In the end,
the teacher is able to show that though some Americans in
every generation have made horrible decisions, others have
made wise and noble decisions. And in all of these events,
God has remained true. His Word has proven trustworthy.
Such teaching shows students that if they set their hope on
a particular nation, they will be disappointed. But if they set
their hope on God, they will never be disappointed because
the kingdom of God cannot fail. 2
But none of this is possible unless history is taught in
a certain way. Without belief in absolute truth, the right
approach is not possible. Our children need truth just as
much as they need food, water, and love. They cannot live
without truth. And they cannot have truth without God.
Dr. Bryan Smith has worked in Christian education for over
twenty years. He has been a classroom teacher as well as a
textbook author. Currently, he serves at BJU Press as the Bible
Integration Coordinator. In this position he assists authors and
teachers in the work of integrating faith and learning in the class-
room. Bryan holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament Interpretation. He
and his wife, Becky, have six children.
FOOTNOTES
1. See “Americans are Most Likely to Base Truth on Feelings” in Barna Group,
February 12, 2002. Accessed at https://www.barna.org/barna-update/5-barna-
update/67-americans-are-most-likely-to-base-truth-on-feelings on July 11, 2014.
2. For an example of this kind of approach, see Heritage Studies 3 (Greenville,
S.C.: BJU Press, 2014), pp. 133-59.
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