In attempting to define the meaning of ‘Christian Worldview,’ one may pause to acknowledge the vagaries in the expression and the various meanings one could draw from it. However, if one means the implementation of a worldview that is consistent with biblical revelation and a commitment to truthfulness, that seems to me somewhat nearer the mark. Even that interpretation presents diverging purposes. For example, a Christian historian may find himself in a specialized subfield that leaves little room for broad commentary on human nature. What remains, to my mind, is the important commonality in good historical work—truthfulness. The study of history is the pursuit of what happened in the past. The role of good sense is to understand the importance of what happened in the past.
Some may imply that history may not
readily yield lessons to the modern audience.[3] The premise is a debatable one.
Might not many students of history laughingly recall the recklessness of
Napoleon’s and Hitler’s attempted invasions of Russia, the latter of which
might have been avoided had the Germans better learned history? Might not the
decline of Ancient Rome stand as a warning for large nations today?
The historian may simply approach his or her task as a truth-finder.[4] However, one need not check morality at the door. If he is to summarize, let him do so with a clear understanding; if he must play the judge, let it not be before hearing the opposing arguments; if he is to philosophize, let it be after he knows that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”[5]
Bibliography
Butterfield, Hebert. The
Whig Interpretation of History. London, UK: G. Bell and Sons, 1931.
https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/literature/general/Butterfield%20(Herbert)%20The%20Whig%20Interpretation%20of%20History.pdf.
ESV. Proverbs 9:10. Crossway.
Accessed November 20, 2025. https://www.esv.org/Proverbs+9/.
Fea, John. Why Study
History? second ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024.
VitalSource.
L'Isle, Guillaume De, Cartographer.
Figure 2. Map. Mappa Totius Mundi: Adornata Juxta Observationes Dnn.
Academiae Regalis Scientiarum Et Nonnullorum Aliorum Secundum Annotationes
Recentissimas. [Augustae Vindelicorum: Recusa et venalis prostans apud
Tobiam Conradu Lotter chalcographum et geogr., ?, 1775.]
https://www.loc.gov/item/2017585675/.
[1] Figure 1, photo, by Sara L.
Devine.
[2] Figure 2, map, Mappa Totius Mundi: Adornata Juxta Observationes Dnn. Academiae Regalis Scientiarum Et Nonnullorum Aliorum Secundum Annotationes Recentissimas. [Augustae Vindelicorum: Recusa et venalis prostans apud Tobiam Conradu Lotter chalcographum et geogr., ?, 1775] by Guillaume De L’Isle, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017585675/.
[3] Herbert Butterfield, The
Whig Interpretation of History (London, UK: G. Bell and Sons, 1931),
71,
https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/literature/general/Butterfield%20(Herbert)%20The%20Whig%20Interpretation%20of%20History.pdf.
[4] John Fea, Why Study
History? second ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024), 20,
VitalSource.
[5] ESV, Proverbs 9:10, Crossway,
accessed November 20, 2025, https://www.esv.org/Proverbs+9/.
[6] Figure 3, photo, by Sara L.
Devine.
