Historical Revisionism:
A Biblical Perspective
By Dr. Dan Olinger
B
ACK IN 1987, two bestselling books changed the way
Americans thought about history. Allan Bloom’s The
Closing of the American Mind 1 and E. D. Hirsch Jr.’s Cultur-
al Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know 2 called
the country’s attention to the frightening lack of historical
understanding among its allegedly educated citizens. 3 Soon
numerous studies, formal and informal, highlighted the
problem. 4 Newspapers reported surveys that demonstrated
historical ignorance. 5
THE CONTROVERSY
Not surprisingly, the years since 1987 have seen constant
battles over the history textbooks to be used in Amer-
ica’s public schools. 6 Some of the most well-pub-
licized dust-ups have involved an unacceptable
level of egregious historical errors in text-
books, 7 for which blame has been assigned
largely to changes in the processes for
publishing textbooks 8 —changes, it is often
alleged, that have resulted from the industry’s
attempt to keep up with unreason-
able expectations of
revision cycles. 9
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But the problem of factual errors is not really at the heart
of the controversy behind textbook selection. Factual errors
are a problem, of course, but competent editors, given
appropriate time and resources, can find them and correct
them. The real controversy in textbook selection is not over
facts but over the interpretation of those facts. 10 How will
the textbook view the events of history? What events and
persons will it include? What trends will it emphasize or
de-emphasize? What sense of progress or meaning will it
find in the historical events? Most importantly, how will it
present what is good or evil, desirable or undesirable? 11
The battle is currently being waged on two fronts.
The most immediate is in textbook selection
committees where states 12 determine which
textbooks schools may purchase with
state funds. Since public schools have
no practical source of funding other
than the government, the committee’s
decision determines which textbooks
may be used in the schools.