The Christian Philosophy of History

Shirley Jackson Case

• Publisher: Barakaldo Books
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781839743337
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Religión

The classic exposition of the Christian philosophy of History."TODAY many persons are sobered by the threat of disaster to our civilization. How to avert impending calamity is a question of serious moment. The situation is especially disturbing for the religious man. His customary trust in God and his confidence in the ultimate triumph of goodness are hard to maintain in the face of adverse circumstances. For the moment evils prevail and righteousness is forced off the highway of life. It is difficult to preserve that imperturbable demeanor which Robert Louis Stevenson ascribes to quiet minds going on "in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm." In days when the thunderclouds of war darken all skies and stretch from pole to pole, quietude of mind is a luxury that few people who take life seriously are able to enjoy.There is one source of knowledge upon which we might draw to help us steady our perspective and define our task in times of perplexity. In the excitement of the moment we may forget the heritage of wisdom and experience bequeathed to us by the past. If we turn to history, it may brace our minds and strengthen our determination to maintain a bold front against threatening evils."

 

CHAPTER I—THE CHALLENGING WORLD

LIFE in the present world is a constant challenge. The forces of good and evil seem to be locked in a perpetual struggle for supremacy over mankind. We enter life with an implicit faith in the benevolence of the universe. We assume it to be a good world that invites our trust, elicits our energy, and beckons us on to success. But presently we discover a less kindly environment in which life can be maliciously cruel. Believing, as we fain would, that we live in a good world, there is no blinking the fact that we also live in a bad world.

Everyone is involved in the conflict between good and evil. No one can stand on the side lines indifferently watching the progress of the game. All are participants, each contributing his share to ultimate victory or defeat. Our attitudes may vary. We may trust to chance or resort to cunning in our desire to avoid open conflict with the vicious forces that threaten us. Or we may adopt compromise in the hope of making the going a little more comfortable on the rough highway of life. Or, in a more heroic mood, we may boldly give battle to the enemy in a determined effort to overcome evil with good.

The world in which we live today has been a long time in the making. Both good and evil are ancient heritages. Whether they have kept equal pace with each other in their growth or in their diminution, whether good has increased while evil has declined, or whether evils have multiplied at the expense of goodness are questions that have been and still are very differently answered. Our philosophy of life is mainly determined by our opinion as to whether the world is growing better or worse.

One favorite mode of escape from the bad world of today is the widely prevalent attempt to restore the imaginary happy conditions of days gone by. It has been a common disposition of mankind to idealize the past and deplore the present. The ancient Greeks invented the picture of a succession of world ages, beginning with the age of gold, followed by one of silver and then one of bronze, until finally the present age of iron dawned upon a distressed humanity. In the earlier periods of history there had been giants and heroes, but today only common mortals remained. Similarly, the Hebrews imagined that the beginnings of life on earth traced back to the happy abode of a Garden of Eden, wherein the first man and the first woman lived in comfort and innocence. But they fell from this high estate, dragging down with them all of their descendants to the hard life of toil and suffering.

The patriarchs of antiquity had lived for hundreds of years, but now the span of life had been shortened to a brief threescore years and ten. The course of physical and social development had been one of gradual deterioration and increasing distress. An idealized past had been supplanted by a decadent present.

This pessimistic view of the processes of life still pervades large areas of our thinking. We feel ourselves continually overshadowed by the greater things that have been; at best we can hope to reflect but dimly the glories of the past. Our highest ambition is to approximate, as nearly as we can, the idealized excellencies of our noblest ancestors. We would repeat in our own feebler fashion the political ideals and policies of a George Washington. We would, if we could, write the English of a Shakespeare, paint the fresco of a Michelangelo, compose the music of a Beethoven, and live the consecrated life of a Jesus of Nazareth. But, conscious of our inability to perform perfectly any of these accomplishments, we strive only for a life of imitative mediocrity.

Hence, we aim to live by rules that are supposed to have been already deposited somewhere upon the pages of history. Previous custom has fixed the propriety of all thinking and action suitable for life today. Our first duty is to become intelligently aware of the precepts that have been propounded by our ancestors, and the ultimate goal of our ambition is to approach as nearly as possible to a life of conformity with these given regulations. One may seek this normative guidance from the Bible, from the Constitution of the United States, or from the enactments of last year’s legislature. In any event, the procedure is inspired by the same fundamental principle. The past is thought to have been so much wiser than the present that norms for opinion and conduct have been properly fixed for all time to come by the authoritative decrees of the ancients.

In the sphere of religion the authority of antiquity has remained most strongly fortified. All religious beliefs and practices are commonly justified on the ground that ultimately they came to mankind through the processes of a revelation delivered in ancient times. The moral ideals embodied in the Ten Commandments are said to have been written on tablets of stone by the finger of God and given to Moses for the instruction of the people in all future ages. The ancient prophets, speaking in the name of the Lord, addressed to their contemporaries messages that have been credited with permanent validity. The teachings of Jesus delivered to his disciples in Palestine nineteen hundred years ago have become the norm for all later Christian life and action. Paul’s letters to first-century Christian groups scattered about the old Roman world have been used as handbooks of guidance for all subsequent generations. This accumulated body of ancient writings, assembled into a single volume and canonized by the church, has acquired the sanctity of an inspired scripture—an embodiment of the truth once for all delivered to the saints. When the religious man seeks wisdom for the direction of thought and conduct in the twentieth century, he turns, by force of habit, to these records of the past for his standards and ideals. That, he infers, was the golden age of wisdom which a degenerate present must ever strive to restore.

The organized activities of religion follow the same course. One church justifies its establishment and procedures on the hypothesis that Jesus designated Peter as the rock on which the church was to be founded; and therefore Peter’s successor, in the person of the pope of Rome, is the ultimate authority in all ecclesiastical affairs. Another church holds to the primacy of the apostolic group as a whole, of whom Peter was only one of the members; and thus religious authority resides in an apostolic succession of bishops, proceeding in a direct line of descent from the official companions of Jesus. Still another church follows the Pauline pattern of administration by elders or presbyters. But whether it be Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or any other denominational group, each professes to reproduce an ancient model. It is assumed that a religious institution can have validity only when accredited by antiquity.

Religious beliefs are tested by the same standard. When systems of doctrine are formulated, they have to be fortified at every vital point by reference to biblical texts. When a new truth emerges out of some area of modern knowledge, an effort is made to show that it was contained, at least in germ, in the ancient revelation, where it lay undeveloped until brought out into the full light of day in more recent times. If the church undertakes a new task, such as the application of religion to present-day social problems, justification for the procedure is sought in words spoken by some old Hebrew prophet or in the message of Jesus. Ancient truth is credited with a fullness, a richness, and a perfection of unsurpassable excellence, while today’s religious insights and aspirations can be at best only a replica of the past.

And so we continue to live under the shadow of antiquity. The great and good things of the days of old are remembered for the inspiration and guidance of these later and less fortunate times. We cull from the pages of history the more adorable figures of the past and set them on pedestals to be admired and imitated. Their words of wisdom are cherished for the instruction of each new generation of youth. Their exemplary lives are lauded as models of conduct for worthy living today. The deeds accomplished by them are thought to constitute a solid foundation on which to rear a modern social order. The shortcomings and perversities of present-day life mark a departure from the standards of the ancients and are capable of correction in so far as we can effect an approximate restoration of the older ideals and patterns of conduct. Life today is thus generously endowed with heritages from antiquity. Although we must live in the present, it is our privilege to be, in large measure, children of the past. Out of this treasure-house of memory we seek to bring forth things both new and old for the enrichment of modern life.

Man is not only a creature of memory; he is also possessed of imagination. With the eye of creative fancy he strives to peer into every region of the unknown. Blank areas of information about the past are filled in cautiously or recklessly by the exercise of inventive skill. The scattered data of history are woven into a continuing nexus of events fabricated in accordance with some assumed laws of succession that are thought to reveal the purpose and ultimate meaning of the whole. Similarly, contemporary happenings are mutually related to one another in an effort to supply an imaginary integration of the total phenomena of present-day living that will reveal its inner significance. Even the future is brought within the domain of venturesome speculation. An attempt to forecast the probable course of coming events from the perspective of the past entices many a serious thinker. He seeks to discover the laws that will operate in the making of future history, to plot the curve that will be described by the continued operation of cause and effect, and to forecast the final goal toward which the processes of life are ultimately directed. All of which, means that man is naturally inclined to be a philosopher of history.

Outlooks on the future are subject to wide variations of opinion. Few, if any of us, are so thoroughly objective in our judgment of things to come that our conclusions are not largely colored by the local circumstances of the moment or by our temporary personal emotions. Immediate desires, recent attainments or disappointments, or some cherished ambition sets the direction for thinking. Youth may paint the picture in rosy hues; middle age may make it a blend of light and shadow; while older men may view with distrust the prospects of an age that will have to be shaped without the skilful touch of their guiding hand. One who has experienced the defeat of cherished plans may see only more trouble ahead, while one who has happened to realize the goal of his desire for today may construct a quite imaginative picture of better things in the future. Whether the world is growing better or worse, whether living will be more or less comfortable tomorrow than it has been today, whether there is real progress in history or merely aimless flux—these are questions that yield no final solution when seen only with the short-range vision of single individuals and answered in terms of their accidental personal experience.

A surer hope for successful living in the future is commonly associated with the perpetuation of our numerous cultural institutions. In politics, industry, commerce, education, religion, and all phases of social activity the machinery of a continuing organization has been devised to conserve the values of the past, to augment them in the present, and to insure their endurance for days to come. These establishments, it is assumed, will counteract the transitoriness of personalities and continue the momentum of historical progress. They provide experience and training for the youth of today who are to bear tomorrow’s responsibilities. They insure the longevity of skill and culture against the processes of decline and decay that all too soon overtake even the most capable individuals. In institutions one has the deposited wisdom of the past as a foundation on which to build new attainments in the present and the future. From time to time changes in their structure may be required for the sake of greater efficiency, but throughout this process they remain the depositories of accumulated values and the guarantors of the better things yet to be realized in human history.

While the institution outlives the individual, it is still a rather shaky foundation on which to rest a sure hope for life in the future. Sometimes even institutions collapse. History throughout the ages has witnessed the end of one political regime after another. Banking concerns once thought impregnable have sometimes failed. Highly organized commercial enterprises that were prosperous yesterday have become bankrupt today. Manufacturing establishments that once throbbed with life finally decline and die. Old age and decay have settled down upon some of our once prosperous educational institutions. And shifts in population have sometimes converted churches that were formerly the center of a thriving community life into mere monumental relics of the dead past. Institutions, like individuals, are victims of the ebb and flow of time.

This picture has both a dark and a bright side. Viewed from the standpoint of the pessimist, all change moves in the direction of further decay and ultimate death. He believes himself to be living in the autumn days of civilization. Its fruits have ripened and fallen; its foliage has been smitten with the frost of approaching winter; and its vital energy is slowly but surely sinking down into the grave of eternal night. If he cherishes any hope at all, it rests upon faith in the complete collapse of the present order of existence and the miraculous establishment of a new world that will be entirely different in its structure from the one in which we live today. In religious thinking, where this doctrine has sometimes flourished, it is known as “eschatology” or “millenarianism.” The multiplying evils of the present day are welcomed as a sign that the world is coming to an end. We are now living in the darkest hours of the night, immediately preceding the dawn of a new age presently to be inaugurated by the catastrophic intervention of God. Or, if this hope is rejected, there remains only the prospect of a return to primeval chaos.

The optimist offers a different interpretation of the situation. He lives in civilization’s springtime. It is his faith that the things that have been are only the prelude to better things yet to be. Death, as he views it, is always followed by a new resurgence of life. Individuals and institutions may pass away, but their passing will be attended by the rise of others more competent to function effectively in the world of tomorrow. The children of each generation, when grown to maturity, will further enrich the heritages bequeathed them by their fathers. The struggle between good and evil may be long drawn out, but the champions of goodness are not pressed for time. The years that have passed thus far mark only the first step in the long course of the ages yet to come. Men move on and off the stage of history only to be followed by an innumerable host of actors yet unborn, “Time flies you say; ah no, alas, time stays, we go,” and our place is taken by succeeding generations, age on age, throughout the cycles of illimitable years.

The optimist does not hope to plant his flag victoriously on the battlements of heaven in a single day or in one century. He is content if he can add but an iota to the sum of the world’s accumulating experience. Advance may be so gradual that it can scarcely be seen with the naked eye; only under the magnifying glass of a long historical perspective can the forward movement be observed. Only by comparing the present status of civilization with that of a hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago, or by allowing one’s gaze to range over the whole course of known time from the days of the cave man to the present can history be seen in its true light. Thus the optimist soars above the perplexing panorama of transient men and atomistic events to survey the scene in its totality. The successful journey already made by mankind from the days of primitivity to the present advanced stages of culture in a world that still has innumerable centuries of life ahead seems a sufficient guaranty for faith in the future.

What actually lies ahead of us in life must ever remain uncertain. Fears may be proved groundless, or confidence may be sadly betrayed by the ultimate outcome. At best we can but strive to possess ourselves of all available wisdom from the past, to shape the course of life today in accordance with our best judgments, and to face the coming days with whatever measure of anxiety or assurance our temperaments permit. If we are prone to place trust chiefly in the remedial permanence of institutions, it will be well for us to remember that they are always created and maintained by individuals; consequently, their efficiency can never transcend the virtues of those by whom they are made and operated. If we are inclined to think only of our personal interests, we shall need to be reminded of the fact that society is a co-operative enterprise and the welfare of the individual can never be completely isolated from that of the group. To make today’s life, both individually and socially, a substantial foundation on which to build tomorrow’s good is the surest ground for future living.

This ideal expressed in Christian language is the hope of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Nineteen hundred years of history leave its advent still an unrealized ambition. The conflict between good and evil continues to be waged. Men strive to live by norms drawn from an idealized past, and their hopes still remain unfulfilled. Others struggle to make of the present a better day than ever yet has been, only to discover that their ideals are a fleeing goal ever beckoning them on to harder tasks in the future. Optimism and pessimism contend for the possession of their spirits. They are tempted to form judgments on the basis of a short-range vision and yet are unable to set limits to the endurance of time. The unknown future always looms up before them with its untried possibilities. There is no hope of escape from its uncertainties, whether one chooses to approach it with alarm or to enter its portals with confidence. These are perplexities that still challenge the skill and the wisdom of the Christian philosopher of history.

CHAPTER II—THE PROVIDENTIAL VIEW OF HISTORY

ACCORDING to the traditional Christian view of the world, God makes history. He stands at the beginning and at the end of time; and in the intervening area, where the course of temporal events is being shaped, providential guidance is continually operative. This is the major premise on which the older Christian interpretation of history is based.

The manner of God’s action, however, is a subject about which there have been wide variations of opinion. Some interpreters have specified relatively definite limits for the beginning and end of time, while others have visualized an indefinitely long period approaching infinity. Also, the method of divine action in the affairs of the world has been described in many different ways. Sometimes God is assumed to be constantly present in history, overruling all events for the accomplishment of his inscrutable purposes. At other times chief stress is placed upon his occasional interference by way of unique revelations of his will injected into an order of existence that is essentially foreign to his nature—if not, indeed, dominated by hostile powers of darkness. Thus, two historical streams are to be sharply differentiated from each other—one secular and the other sacred.

Revelation, too, has been variously defined. It may be seen chiefly manifest in certain unusual occurrences, like the calling of the Hebrew people, the preaching of the great prophets, the incarnation of Christ, the establishment of the church, and similarly miraculous events supported by the scriptural records. Or it may be a more continuous process of divine manifestation welling up within the experience of the spiritual geniuses of all time, or an utterance of the still small voice within the soul of every morally and religiously sensitive individual, or even displays of the Divine Presence within the orderly processes of human reason and physical nature.

There have also been different ways of reading the designs of Providence in history. While the Supreme Deity is always thought to be the implacable foe of evil, his program for its temporary suppression and f...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Table of Contents
• PREFACE
• CHAPTER I-THE CHALLENGING WORLD
• CHAPTER II-THE PROVIDENTIAL VIEW OF HISTORY
• CHAPTER III-THE HUMAN VIEW OF HISTORY
• CHAPTER IV-THE REVIVAL OF HISTORICAL DUALISM
• CHAPTER V-THE CONTINUITY OF HISTORY
• CHAPTER VI-THE RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF HISTORY
• CHAPTER VII-GOD AND THE HISTORICAL PROCESS