History Under God
A Glorious Inheritance and Destiny
by Sarah Zes, August 3, 2006
The Enlightenment, by its savage and long-standing attack on Biblical faith, has brought about the long retreat of Christianity from a full-orbed faith to a kind of last-ditch battle centering around the doctrines of salvation and of the infallible Scripture. The time has come for a full-scale offensive, and it has indeed begun, to bring every area of thought into captivity to Christ, to establish the whole counsel of God and every implication of His infallible Word. —R.J. Rushdoony
It’s not every day that one encounters a conference dedicated to bringing the area of history into captivity to the obedience of Christ, much less all six thousand years of it. Yet this monumental undertaking — this “full-scale offensive,” as Rushdoony called it — is exactly what I had the privilege to participate in at Vision Forum’s History of the World Mega-Conference. For the better part of a week, I was inundated with a comprehensive and Christ-honoring commentary on the providences of God since the beginning of time. From Creation to the Church Age, from Noah to Knox, from the Tower of Babel to the Third Reich — the speakers covered more ground in the space of five days than most colleges do in a semester.
Yet unlike typical college courses, these were not lectures focused on merely imparting information, though I learned a lot. Nor were they concerned with simply giving a Reader’s Digest of historical anecdotes, though I found them quite fascinating. This conference, for those who had ears to hear, was a paradigm-shifting, mind-renewing, life-altering event. Why? Because one cannot be confronted with the absolute, universal, eternal dominion and Lordship of Jesus Christ in time and space and not be changed.
History is infinitely more than an academic discipline. It is the gracious mercies and sovereign orchestrations of our Almighty Creator towards His undeserving creatures. It is the rule of Christ over His subjects. It is a record of those who kept covenant with God, and those who did not. It is a testimony of God’s blessings for obedience. It is a warning of His judgments for sin. It is the marvelous declaration of the faithfulness of our Lord toward His people and the progressive triumph of His kingdom throughout time.
This is why history is significant. This is why a conference devoted to remembering history was indispensable. To hear great men of today speak about great men of yesterday to those who well may be among the great men of tomorrow was unforgettable. To look back through six millennia of courage and cowardice, triumphs and tragedies, redemption and rebellion — and be challenged with implications for our day was convicting. This is why the study of history must be an integral part of our lives. Without it, we cannot have proper perspective by which to evaluate the present. History teaches us perseverance by which to face the future. And it reminds us that God’s promises never fail.
“History under God,” Rushdoony wrote, “rests in total meaning and purpose and gives man a glorious inheritance and destiny.” We have been blessed with a great treasure — may we be faithful to search out its depths and pass on its riches to our posterity, for God’s glory.