54 in the dark, hoping that somehow, there is truth and certainty behind all his encounters in a universe that is indifferent to him. Faith, indeed, is paramount to the discipline of history — that is, a Christian faith grounded in and informed by the eternal, unchanging, and inerrant Sacred Historian who made the world and everything in it. It is He who established universal rules of reason and moral boundaries — who regulates all things yet ensures human freedom because both matter and consciousness have their origin in Him. Because His Word is Truth (John 17:17), the Bible is necessarily the Christian’s historical compass. Part 2: A Theology of History At Cedarville University, we reject the ultimacy of human experience, and submit only to the authority of biblical revelation. This is the imperative of Scripture — to hold every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5) in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). God’s Word is foundational to the academic discipline of history, which is necessarily Christian in its rational assumptions. For example, historians assume at the outset the very possibility of factual, objective evidence, cause-and-effect relationships, and our ability to apprehend truth. Only the Bible can furnish these basic premises whereas the autonomous worldview of the unbeliever cannot — hence, the secular historian must subconsciously borrow them from Christianity, incorporating these foundational axioms into his internal belief system. And so, in order for history to be rationally intelligible and meaningful, the people of God must obediently begin with the person of God who established and continually upholds the created order. Without a personal Creator operating behind the scenes, and without His special revelation to explain His actions, the meaning of history from our finite vantage point would be an “impenetrable mystery.”2 The Historical Necessity of Divine Omniscience and Sovereignty Two biblical doctrines foundational to understanding history are God’s omniscience (Job 24:23; Ps. 33:13–15, 139:13–16; Prov. 15:3; Jer. 16:17; Heb. 4:13) — that is, God knowing all things — and God’s sovereignty or absolute control of all things. The Lord knows everything because He establishes every event of history (Eph. 1:11) for His own glorifying purpose, which we are told is always good (Rom. 8:28). Having created all things and continually sustaining all things through His Son who 2 C. Gregg Singer, “The Problem of Historical Interpretation,” in Gary North, ed., Foundations of Christian Scholarship: Essays in the Van Til Perspective. Ross House Books, 1976, 53–73.
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