An alarming but also understandable statement appears in an article entitled “Repeating History’’ (National Review, September 16, 1977.) “At every level of schooling in America, the study of history has been declining,” says Russell Kirk.

For those of us who have been busy in a workshop sponsored by the Federa­tion of Protestant Reformed Christian Schools this is an alarming statement. We presume, however, that this does not characterize the present situation in the schools which have their membership in this Federation. If this were true, much of the work done by the workshop to produce a history manual is an enormous waste of time and effort. The purpose of this workshop has been to more adequately prepare Protestant Reformed teachers to teach history distinctively and also to produce a history manual that will assist other teachers in the teaching of history from the viewpoint of the Scriptures.

The decline in the study of history is a problem in many of the schools of America. The historical discipline has been abandoned so that courses in “special social problems” can be taught. Courses which are a conglomeration of history, geography, sociology, and anth­ropology have been taught for several years. The result of this procedure is that the student knows nothing about history. He also does not understand geography, nor does he have a correct view of man and the social situation.

There are undoubtedly several rea­sons for this decline besides this inter­disciplinary approach. Who wants Thucy­dides, Herodotus, Gibbon, or even the non-historians’ historian, Durant, if you can have Barbara Walters or some of her counterparts. (For a detailed discussion of the interdisciplinary curriculum, recom­mend an article by Mrs. Lois Kregel in the September, 1977, issue of Perspectives In Covenant Education.)

National Review, reports that Pro­fessor Kirkendall’s report, “The Status of History in the Schools” (Journal of American History, September, 1975), proved, if proof is necessary, that history is in crisis and that history’s crisis is not merely a part of the large difficulties of academic life at the present time.” Kirkendall and his colleagues found that the notion that history “is not a practical subject” was one of the chief causes for declining interest in history.

This is typical of the American response. We live in an intensely materi­alistic time and American people are extremely pragmatic. People live for the moment and are concerned only for the here and the now. They do not think of this life as being temporary or a pilgrimage and that after this time they will be doomed to hell eternally or will live blissfully everlastingly in heaven. In early civilizations there were philosophers who at least formally and intellectually taught men to see this life as having no ultimate meaning. The followers of the Platonic view of reality maintained that reality does not lie in the present visible and touchable phenomena but reality is in that which is universal. They said the world of the ideas and the ideal world is best. This was the world of the thinker. For such men the study of history was significant. They did not want to make the same mistakes that men in the past had made. They wanted to learn from the errors of the past so that they might live better in the present and in the future.

Russell Kirk puts it this way: “…the modem unhistorical, or anti-historical, attitude is unique in this history of civilized man as a widespread social phenomenon. It seems to parallel the wide lack of interest in the question of the immortality of the soul. I suspect that people uninterested in the soul will forfeit their own souls; and that a people uninterested in history presently will cease to have a history, or to be a people.”

Our Christian schools may not yield to the temptation to reject the study of history. As time goes on more and more history is made. More and more of the full counsel of God is revealed. We have a very unique view of history. We believe that all the events that occur do not happen by chance. We believe in Provi­dence. We believe in the “almighty and everywhere present power of God; where­by, as it were by His hand. He upholds and governs, heaven, earth, and all creatures;…” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 10.) All creatures includes man and history of man, which God controls. We share the view of the prophet Daniel when he said to reprobate Nebuchadnez­zar. “…know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will…” (Daniel 4:17) We teach history, and we must continue to teach history, in spite of the influence of the world around us because, “all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him. What does thou?” (Daniel 4:35)

This high motivation for the teaching of history the men of this world cannot share with the children of God. We do not merely teach history, therefore, so that we may understand the present. It certainly is possible to understand the present better by knowing the past. The present events are rooted in events that have happened in the past, and the present is the germ of the future, but we understand too that all things happen ultimately because we have a Father in heaven who through His Son, the Word which became flesh and dwelt among us, causes all things to happen. God said to wicked Cyrus of Persia. “I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me:…I am the Lord, and there is none else…l the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:5-7)

T.S. Eliot remarked in a memorable lecture, according to Russell Kirk, that “we have been condemning the rising generation to a new form of provincialism: the provincialism of time, imprisoning people in their own little present mo­ment.” It is possible to understand a comment like this from the poet Eliot if we know that he wrote at a time when life seemed to be for him a wasteland of meaninglessness. Eliot knew, however, that aside from Revelation, i.e. the Scriptures, our only source of human knowledge is history.

We must not be lured into condemn­ing our youth to a new form of provincialism. Instead we must lift the horizons so that the Covenant youth see all things that happen in this world in the past, in the present and in the future from the viewpoint and from the perspective of the Word of God. God in His Word declares to us all things from the beginning to the end of the world.

The philosopher Hegel wrote. “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” History does not teach the natural man to fear God and turn from his wicked ways. Although history does not correct the deeds of men, because men have been doing the same evil works and have become progressively evil, history does teach and inform God’s people. We read God’s Word concerning the things that must happen. We read God’s Word concerning the running of the Red Horse, the Black Horse, and the Pale Horse, (wars, famines, social struggles, death) and the victorious running of the White Horse. In this way we understand the events of history. This is a miracle of God’s grace and sovereign power. “We know God by two means: first by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe…Secondly, He makes Him­self more clearly and fully known to us by His Holy and divine Word that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to His glory and our salvation. (Article II, Belgic Confession) As reformed and regenerated people we are informed.

Let that which is happening in the schools of America not happen to ours. We Reformed Christians have established schools so that the seed of the Covenant will he thoroughly prepared to under­stand the world in which they live and to live then as Christians in this world. That means that they must understand the past in the light of the Word of God. God is the author of history, and He gives us the “Key of Knowledge” so that we through His Spirit may know the things that are necessary for us to know.

Russell Kirk reports that at St. Louis late last year a representative 122 high school students were tested on their knowledge of basic American history, government, and world affairs. “The test, a sound if simple one, was prepared by the Gallup organization and the National Municipal League. The passing score was supposed to be seventy out of one hundred questions. In fact, the average grade was 49.15. Only 22 students passed the St. Louis test; one hundred failed. Most of these students were graduating seniors.”

This may indicate that for at least 70 average seniors from those tested for whom high school is terminal, or for those who go on to college, the schools had not provided sufficient background in historical studies so that they could pass a simple test.

Russell Kirk writes: “Consider the New York Times History Knowledge and Attitude Survey, conducted among l,856 freshmen at 194 college campuses last year. Forty-four questions were asked. The average student in the sample answered correctly only 21 of these questions; the highest score by any student was 41. History department chairmen and social science coordinators in six cities were asked to evaluate this test. They estimated that a typical college-bound high school senior ought to be able to get a score of 70 percent. Actually only one college freshman in 12 scored that high.”

It ought to be obvious that something is wrong. Historical studies are neglected. Knowledge of events in the past and perhaps in the present is not required. Apart from the possible unreliability of the test, we ought to conclude that the schools do not consider the study of the history of the world to be significant. That should not be our attitude, however. We have a precious heritage. We have a calling and responsibility to transmit that heritage to our children through the study of history. They must see that all things happen because of the will of God, and they must know the events that occur in this creation. They need facts to substantiate their beliefs, which are based on the interpretation of all events by the Word of God.

For this reason a history manual has been produced (September, 1977) that will assist the teacher in the Reformed Christian schools to teach the history of the world from the Creation of the World to the Fall of Rome. For this reason a group of dedicated teachers will continue to work on materials so that teacher can distinctively and properly teach the history of the Middle Age from the perspective of the Scriptures.

History? Yes! It belongs to God. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)