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Christianity is rooted in history. The New Testament begins with a genealogical table that most modern readers find almost incomprehensible [Matthew 1:1-17]. The purpose of this genealogy is to locate the birth of Jesus in space and time according to the standards of Jewish history. The appeal to "the first eye-witnesses," in the prologue to the Gospel of Luke, is also clearly intended to engage the skepticism of Greco-Roman readers by providing specific historical data against which ancient readers could weigh the writer’s claims [Luke 3:1-2]. Throughout the gospels, as Sir William Ramsey pointed out, are many references to historical data and specific geographic locations [Gasque]. So important is historical truth that its denial becomes a mark of heresy for New Testament authors [1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 1 John 4:1-3].
Clearly, the Bible is steeped in history and the remembrance of history. Both the Old and New Testaments constantly reminded their readers about particular historical events [cf. Deuteronomy 4:9-14; Acts 7]. Thus parents are commanded to teach their children the significance of history [Deuteronomy 6:4-25] both by retelling the story and through commemorations which enact the central acts of salvation [Exodus 13:3-16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26]. Further, an appeal is frequently made to visible memorials that remind people of God’s wonderful deeds [Acts 2:29-36]. We also find both Jews and early Christians visiting historic sites as acts of devotion [Luke 2:21-41; Acts 21:17-27].
The importance of history, and the way in which we remember past events, is recognized by many influential opponents of Christianity. Karl Marx, for example, argued that the ability to control history, or rather the interpretation of history, was an essential step in the abolition of religion [Marx and Engels 1955:42-58]. Almost a century later, Adolf Hitler made a similar appeal to history and historical necessity [Hitler 1941:675-676; Bormann 1988:83-87]. Both Marx and Hitler, following in the footsteps of enlightenment skeptics like Tom Pain [Paine 1974:49-51] sought to establish the truth of their revolutions by denying the validity of Christian history.
Our web sites are, we hope, a small contribution to the reestablishment of a sense of history and cultural pride among Christians. Following the Biblical model we believe that visiting places and seeing where great events took place helps people remember and understand the present as well as the past [Joshua 4:1-7; cf. Schaeffer 1987:214-225].
Anyone involved in education knows that people remember things by association. The act of visiting a historic site creates associations that simply reading about something does not. Through the engagement of all our senses we are able to make associations which enable us to remember the importance of events and ideas that would otherwise seem dead and dreary facts with little connection to our present life.
For example a visit to Wittenberg has an immediacy which makes the work of Martin Luther live in ways that no book can fully convey to the reader. Walking around Luther’s home, seeing the chairs he sat in, visiting his wife’s garden, observing where he debated with his students, recognizing the hardships he endured, makes the Reformation real to the visitor. This is because many things are only fully realized when all of our senses are engaged by the specifics of a particular place.
It is our hope that these web siteswill bring history alive and with a sense of history a growing awareness of the realities of faith in our world. As Francis Schaeffer repeatedly loved to point out there is a flow to history because Christian faith is rooted in space and time [Schaeffer 1968:92-104]. To forget our history is the first step to the abandonment of our faith, the triumph of secularism, New Age spirituality, and the rebirth of paganism.
Pieter Bruegel
The Tower of Babel