Joanna Johnson

     As humans, it is impossible for us to have a complete and accurate view of history. We were not created to be simply libraries of information that merely hold facts without interpreting them. We were created unique and subjective. It is impossible for us to completely separate facts and opinions, or even different types of facts. Our brains connect everything together, and that is where new ideas come from. The subjectification of history therefore, is the foundation of our future. A complete and accurate account of history would be unimaginably useful, because it would give us so much more information to make connections with. This is only available, unfortunately, in an ideal world. This does not mean it's not something we should strive for, though. It is kind of similar to how we strive to be perfect and holy, even though we will not accomplish that here on earth. Even though we can never, here on earth, fully accomplish our goal, we accomplish a lot more by trying for it then by accepting defeat. There are many challenges we have to overcome, though, in striving towards an accurate and complete view of history.

     One obstacle that we face trying to interpret history is portrayed in Woodward's "On Believing What One Reads: The Dangers of Popular Revisionism". In this article, Woodward discusses how people change history for their own benefit.  This is often done by withholding history that doesn't agree with one's position. The withheld information is then replaced with newly created information that supports the opinion. This is seen throughout history. One example is during WWII. The Nazis had a lot of propaganda that was used to keep the public on their side. I saw many of the examples of this at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Propaganda isn't limited to "extreme" parties like the Nazis, though. Propaganda is everywhere. We are surrounded by it all the time. From news articles to TV advertisements, everyone is interpreting history to support their own opinion.

     Another issue that gets in the way of knowing the complete and accurate history is discussed in Becker's "What is Evidence". History is a very broad subject. It includes everything! Even what we consider the present is the past by the time we consider it. Every person has history, and every view of history is slightly different. Keeping this in mind, it is difficult to decide what history is the most relevant and what history is the most useful. This would also raise the question, what person gets to decide what's relevant. Also, the past, the present, and the future are so intimately related, that if we took away one, the others would immediately cease to exist.  Therefore, the past is always changing because of the present. The future is similarly always changing because of the future. Then, just to make things more complicated, the present is so narrow, that the present is constantly becoming the past, and the future is constantly becoming the present. History is so huge, and time so complex, that it difficult to wrap our human brains around.

     In light of these issues, trying to use the past seems like almost a hopeless cause, but I propose that it is still a cause worth pursuing. We can learn from the past, even with these challenges. The first and most important step to discovering the truth in history is to pray about it. If we ask God to give us wisdom and discernment and to show us what we can learn from the past and show us the truth, He will answer our prayers. Jeremiah 33:2 -3 says, "'this is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it--the Lord is his name: "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."'" We have access to the only source that has the entire complete and accurate history of everything, why would we not use it! We also need to remember that we do not necessarily hold the truth. Therefore, we need to try to not inadvertently deceive others. We are certainly entitled to our opinions, and also to expressing our opinions. Before we use history as evidence, though, we need to try to find the original people's motivations. We need to make sure we look at context and not just at the information itself.

     God has given us a great blessing in history. We do not fully understand this gift now. One day, though, in heaven, we will be able to see the full beauty, and understand the full magnitude and truth of the past. How I look forward to this day!

Firstly I would like to state, that everything I said in my previous entry still stands. That being said, I wasn't nearly as satisfied with the second half of the book. As I said before, the Earth has been heating up and cooling since its inception. There have been times where the Earth was hotter than it is now and times when the Earth has been cooler than it is now. I do, however, totally get working on environmental issues in order to help people. I would do almost anything to help people. I do not understand, on the other hand, why we should put the best of our efforts into helping the environment when there are so many people out there who do not know the love of Jesus Christ. On a side note, I also do not entirely understand, despite Jonathan's best efforts, how eating less meat helps the environment. Back on topic though, even if the world itself is dying, people are dying at a much faster rate. We need to focus on the people. That's why I liked the first part of the book so much. It was all about helping people. There are many things about "environmental stewardship" that I just do not understand, so if someone would care to explain it to me, I'd be happy to listen. That doesn't mean I'll agree with you or get it afterwards though. I would say that it was good for me to read this book, because it helped me to better see a different perspective, but my heart is for the people.