"Providentialism" and the Teaching of History

Mark Sidwell, Ph.D.

I once had the pleasure of receiving a complimentary letter. The writer was a graduate student researching "the role attributed to providence" (as he put it) in various history texts. He praised an American history text I had helped write, saying it was "unsurpassed" in its "faithful intertwining of Christian principles throughout." Understandably, perhaps, I felt some glow of satisfaction.

Then a few months later I attended a history conference in which I heard several evangelical historians dismissing various "providential" approaches to history and the historians who practiced them. The surest way to make one's approach to history look dated, it appeared, was to appear to be manifestly "providential" in one's handling of the subject. My "glow" was tempered--but my zeal for "providentialism" was not.

Virtually everyone who claims to be a Christian historian would maintain that God controls history in some way. As these two incidents indicate, however, professing Christians can differ greatly about the role of providence in history and how well Christians are able to observe and interpret God's providence.

It is important first that one understand what is meant by "the providence of God in history." The first conception of most Christians is probably some special providence that appears to be an almost miraculous intervention of God in "the course of human events." The famous storm that wrecked the Spanish Armada in 1588 and helped preserve Protestant England is a classic example of what many would view as providential intervention.

But God's providence is more than just periodic instances of divine intervention. Princeton theologian A. A. Hodge relates an anecdote about John Witherspoon, an early president of Princeton College. An acquaintance of Witherspoon said to him, "Dr. Witherspoon, help me to thank God for His wonderful providence! My horse ran away, my buggy was dashed to pieces on the rocks, and behold! I am unharmed." Witherspoon replied, "Why, I know a providence a thousand times better than that of yours. I have driven down that rocky road to Princeton hundreds of times, and my horse never ran away and my buggy was never dashed to pieces" (Hodge, 1976, p. 34). God's constant activity in the "mundane" affairs of everyday life, though less dramatic, is just as much a part of His providence as is a special manifestation. In fact, this less striking providence is more the general pattern than is the spectacular.

Dealing with the question of God's providence in addressing a secular audience may perhaps be a matter of debate--a question of how or even whether to raise the topic. But one cannot claim to have a Christian philosophy of history without believing in God's superintendence in the affairs of men. And particularly in Christian teaching contexts--a textbook or a classroom--the believer who would be faithful to his calling as a historian or teacher must teach God's providence in history. In such contexts the question cannot be whether to teach it, but how.

The first step in properly teaching the providence of God in history is to understand, as C. Gregg Singer notes, that the meaning of history is found outside of history (Singer, 1978, p. 27-28). In other words, the Christian does not start by studying history in order to discern patterns of providence and lessons of history. The believer starts with the Word of God. Not only is Scripture his starting point in determining what providence is, but also it provides his yardstick in evaluating persons and movements. In the ultimate sense, history does not actually teach lessons; it can only illustrate the lessons that God teaches in His Word.

One may understand this point better if one contrasts the Christian approach with, for example, the Marxist approach of economic determinism. The Marxist claims to derive his views from the careful and scientific study of history. By examining the evidence of the past, the economic determinist claims to see a pattern of class conflict over the means of production. This conflict shapes the course of human life and drives it inexorably toward a proletariat utopia. In the same way, other philosophies of history--geographical determinism, "Great Men" theories, and modern race- and gender-based approaches--all to some extent look to the data of history as both the basis and the proof of their positions.

The Christian, however, does not claim to derive his approach from history itself; he does not discover the pattern of God's providence from the unaided study of the past. Rather he looks to Scripture first, to understand its teaching of providential guidance. With the principles of Scripture as his presupposition, then the believer may carefully study the course of history and, with caution, discern the pattern of God's providence.

A starting point for discerning God's providence in history is to identify an event that one may reasonably view as an expression of God's revealed will. An almost incontrovertible example is the timing and circumstances of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul referred to "the fulness of the time" for the epoch of Christ's birth (Gal. 4:4). The accounts from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke clearly demonstrate that Christ's birth occurred precisely when God intended for it to occur, under the circumstances that He chose. All who affirm the infallible authority of Scripture will agree that the timing of Christ's birth was not accidental happenstance but the forethought plan of God.

Knowing, then, on the testimony of Scripture that this timing was unquestionably the will of God, the Christian historian or teacher may with some assurance proceed to analyze and demonstrate the providential timing and circumstances of Christ's birth. In this light, the taxation decree of Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-3) is not the independent act of a Latin ruler but the unknowing congruence of man's intention to God's will. In a broader sense, the whole establishment of the Roman Empire--with its cultural unification of the Mediterranean world--becomes God's formation of the backdrop for the ministry of His Son and the spread of the good news of salvation through Him.

Such teaching of providence in history is easiest when dealing with the testimony of Scripture and the certainty that inspiration lends in discerning the will of God. On the basis of II Kings 17:6-23, for example, a Christian may state with perfect assurance the cause of the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. But Scripture must also provide the basis for other discussions. The Reformation provides such an opportunity. In this case, the Christian examines the system of doctrine and the call for reform advocated by the reformers and realizes their conformity to the truth of God's Word. The Reformation then becomes, in one sense, the establishment of God's truth in clear distinction from errors represented by Roman Catholicism. With this idea in mind, the Christian can begin to point out how the renewal of scholarship in the Renaissance, the development of movable-type printing, the career of Martin Luther, the clash of European nation-states, and much else in the contemporary historical situation contributed to the accomplishing of God's will.

Still the believer must realize that he lacks the knowledge to be dogmatic about every expression of God's work in history. It is true, notes Dirk Jellema, that God sent the storm that devastated the Spanish Armada, but He also sent the armada (Jellema, 1975). It is all too easy to devise a providential scheme of history that provides simply a justification for an individual Christian's own position. Likewise, regarding the Reformation as a demonstration of God's providential dealing should not cause the Christian to close his eyes to the faults of the reformers or to demonize the opponents of the Reformation.

The point to keep in mind is that the Christian always takes his stand on the Word of God in dealing with the issue of providence and not on the results of historical research. Consider how apologists for American expansion in the nineteenth century appealed to the "manifest [i.e., obvious] destiny" of the United States to overspread the continent. Indiana congressman Andrew Kennedy claimed in 1845 that the United States would claim "the entire American continent," saying, "This, sir, is our great and glorious destiny! It is written on the map of the world by the finger of God." But the Christian realizes that the only sure way of knowing what is written by the finger of God is to read the Word He has written.

The Christian also does not equate what is good in temporal terms with what is good in the light of God's wisdom. Hebrews 11:32-38 illustrates this point. In verses 32-35a, the author of the epistle alludes to the mighty deliverances that God wrought for many believers--deliverances from fire, sword, and armies; even the dead were raised. But in verses 35b-38 the author goes on to describe those who endured torture, imprisonment, and painful death. The Christian historian knows God's justice will ultimately triumph, but it does not always triumph in this life.

Furthermore, the Christian must be willing to admit that he does not understand the details of God's working in history and cannot speak with any authority about providence in many particulars. Certainly, all events lie under the sovereign control of God, but the believer may not be able to explain why God in His providence permitted certain events to happen. Rather he affirms his faith in the God who mightily but lovingly "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11).

Even in acknowledging the providence of God in history, the Christian may not be able to explain it. Truly, in God's providence, a fierce storm scattered the Spanish Armada and protected Protestant England. But just as truly, in God's providence, the Muslim Tamarlane virtually obliterated the Nestorian Church in the East in the late 1300s and early 1400s. Were not both events in the providence of God?

Still, a Christian cannot let the inscrutability of God's providence keep him from addressing the matter. He must understand the Bible's teaching concerning providence, and he should be alert to indications of this providence as he studies and teaches history. History is a rich resource for illustrating the principles of God's Word, a resource and an opportunity that the Christian should not ignore.

For further discussion of the idea of God's providence in history, see

Panosian, E. M; Fisher, D. A.; & Sidwell, M. (1996). The Providence of God in History. Greenville, S.C.: Bob Jones University Press.

References:

Hodge, A. A. (1976). Evangelical theology: A course of popular lectures. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust. (Original work published 1890).

Singer, C. G. (1978). Christian approaches: To philosophy, to history. N.P.: Craig Press. (Coronation Series, no. 41978).

Jellema, D. (1975). "`Why study history?' mused Clio." In Marsden, G. & Roberts, F. (Eds.). A Christian view of history. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Reprinted from Balance, a publication of the School of Education, Bob Jones University. Used with permission of Bob Jones University. Please write BJU Press, for permission to reproduce this article.