illions of Americans feel they are on atreadmill struggling to hold onto their fam-

ilies, their finances and their culture. The Christianpopulation in the U.S., still the single largest mi-nority, are seeing their biblical values driven fromthe public square. For centuries these values wereunderstood as the foundationof our free institutions. Theseemingly all-powerful top-down government, the highereducation cabal, the media establishment and the techmoguls seem to be well on theirway to enforcing the total secu-larization of the nation.

Surprisingly, prominent histori-ans, atheists, and secularists arerealizing the abject failure ofsecularism. A militant propo-nent of secularization, PeterBerger, said in 1968, that “bythe 21st century religious be-lievers are likely to be foundonly in small sects, huddled together to resist aworldwide secular culture.” Three decades laterBerger said, “I think what I and most other sociol-ogists of religion wrote in the 1960s about secular-ism was a mistake … I think it is basically wrong.Most of the world is certainly not secular. It’s veryreligious.”1 Many secularists are concluding that wecan’t solve our nation’s mounting crisis and bringorder and peace to our society if we jettison ourJudeo-Christian foundations.

In recent years, the new atheist movement has beenon the march attacking the faith. But several of theleading atheists are now publicly admitting that thedecline of Christianity is seriously hurting our

nation. One prominent atheist, Douglas Murray,says we may be forced to recognize that returningto faith is the best option available to us. He saysthat our modern concept of human rights is basedon a Judeo-Christian foundation. He laments thatour conception of human rights, cut off from its

foundation, may shrivel and dievery quickly, leaving us fum-bling about in a thick and im-penetrable darkness. RichardDawkins, author of The GodDelusion, called for the end ofparents’ rights to educate theirchildren about God. After onlythree years, he is now back-tracking. He says that the “be-nign Christian religion” may beneeded to hold down the po-tential barbarity of man.2

Leading historians are also real-izing the central, positive im-pact of Christian civilization.Award-winning historian Tom

Holland says, “To live in a Western country is tolive in a society still utterly saturated by Christianconcepts and assumptions. This is no less true forJews and Muslims than it is for Catholics or Protes-tants. Two thousand years on from the birth ofChrist, it does not require a belief that He rosefrom the dead to be stamped by the formidable—indeed the inescapable—influence of Christianity.”3

“Christianity is the very root and foundation ofWestern civilization, says bestselling author andfilmmaker Dinesh D’Souza. “Christianity is respon-sible for many of the values and institutions secularpeople cherish most … Christianity also infuses lifewith a powerful and exhilarating sense of purpose.”

The Secrets of History’s Liberators

JOURNALW O R L D H I S T O R Y I N S T I T U T E

january|february 2020 • a biblical worldview to win the future

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McCullough perceives the big picture. He says “His-tory is a story, cause and effect. And if you’re going toteach just segments of history … these [students] havealmost no sense of cause and effect. They have no senseof what followed what and why, that everything has an-tecedents, and everything has consequences. And theymay begin to think that’s true of life, too.”5

Generations of students have now been taught that Socialism is better than free enterprise and superior toour constitutional republic. Karl Marx, the founder ofCommunism and Socialism, knew well how to disguisethe hideous nature of his systems. He said that the totalcontrol over education, especially the teaching of his-tory, was imperative because, “A people without a her-itage are easily controlled.” Fellow socialist, GeorgeOrwell, knew the drill well. He said, “The most effec-tive way to destroy people is to deny and obliteratetheir own understanding of history.”

What is the antidote to these historical delusions thatare affecting the lives of millions of people? Wise leadersthroughout the ages have seen beyond the distortionsof the moment to gain direction from the lessons of his-tory. The purpose of these lessons has always been tobenefit oneself and then others. By knowing the realhistory, the counterfeits are exposed and the successfulpath into the future is made clear.6

The scholar and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis spokeof the importance of learning history. He said that firsthand knowledge, learning from old books and originalsources is much better than reading long, modern

books written by critics. Only as we learn thetrue history can we “keep the clean seabreezes of the centuries blowing through ourminds.”7 Lewis lived in England through theterror of the Nazis as they attempted tobomb London into oblivion in 1940 duringWorld War II. Many of the English had losthope, just as many Americans have today. ButLewis spoke about the Lord’s providence andpower in his radio broadcasts throughout thewar. Lewis taught that the Lion of Judah isthe Lord of History who has defeated theEvil One, much like Aslan, the victoriousLion in his classic novel, The Lion, the Witchand the Wardrobe. By giving the Englishhope in their providential history, he inspiredthem to stand strong against evil. They didstand strong and persevered to victory.

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Berger and others admit that secularism provides nopurpose or meaning to life. “Christianity makes of lifea moral drama in which we play a starring role and inwhich the most ordinary events take on a grand signif-icance. Modern life is typically characterized by graydisillusionment. Christianity gives us a world that isenchanted once again.”4

Why is it that our great heritage as described above isnot known by most Americans today? Eminent histo-rian and bestselling author, David McCullough, ex-plains how generations of American students have beenshortchanged in their knowledge of history. “I think weare raising a generation of young Americans who are, toa very large degree, historically illiterate. It is not theirfault.” He traces the source for our historical ignoranceback to the thought police in American schools and thethoroughly rotten history textbooks. He says that thesebooks are as great a threat to American freedoms as ter-rorists. “It is as if they were designed to kill anyone’sinterest in history rather than encourage it … And ifyou were told you have to go home tonight and readthis book for two hours, you would say in your heart ofhearts, what did I do wrong today that I’m being sopunished .… Students who learn about the world fromthese texts are unlikely to understand why some civi-lized nations flourished and others languished, or whypeople vote with their feet to leave some places and goto others …. So many of the blessings and advantageswe have as Americans, so many of the reasons why ourcivilization, our culture has flourished, aren’t under-stood.”

Christian scholar and apologist C. S. Lewis said that only as we learn the truth of history can we “keep the clean sea breezes of the centuries blowing through our minds....”

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Winston Churchill,Prime Minister of Eng-land during World WarII, saw that teaching ourtrue history is the funda-mental foundation forchanging the world. Hesaid, “The greatest ad-vances in human civiliza-tion have come when werecovered what we had

lost; when we learned the lessons of history.”Churchill backed up his assertion by writing a volu-minous history of England. His knowledge of historymade him a far-seeing visionary. He said, “the furtherbackward you can look, the farther forward you cansee.” In other words, if you know the past you cansee the future. As a historian and statesman,Churchill saw the world as it was, a struggle betweengood and evil, a world of cause and effect. He per-ceived the battle against the Nazis as the “battle forthe survival of Christian civilization.” Drawing uponEngland’s remarkable heritage of liberty and its di-vine origins, the Prime Minister called on his peopleto unite in a common cause. He said they must“never, never, never give in.” And they, the English,stood alone against Hitler while the rest of Europehad been overrun by the German blitzkrieg.

Like Churchill, President Ronald Reagan was a stu-dent of providential cause and effect and its historicalimportance. He called for the dismantlement of theSoviet Union, the “evil empire,” and hastened its col-lapse in 1991, believing that good was destined todefeat evil. His worldview was clear and he warnedAmericans, “The issue is not left or right; it is up ordown. Either up to the maximum liberty under lawor down to the ant-heap of totalitarianism.”8 Ourchoice is either freedom or tyranny.

Following the above theme, our recent Journals havetold the stories of key Liberators who have trans-formed nations in their generations. Each of themfollowed the same biblical strategy to liberate individ-uals and nations. Each of them anchored their victo-ries with the greatest freedom documents of history.America has been the chief beneficiary of this blood-bought struggle for freedom. If we follow in theirfootsteps, we too can prevail against these same evils.For example:

Patrick of Ireland...in the 5th century faced many of the same crises thatAmericans do TODAY:

v Out of control government oppressing the peo-ples’ rights

v Little respect for private property

v A culture of violence and death

v Terrorizing fear and depression leading to mass addiction to drugs, alcohol and suicide

v Sons and daughters driven into endless wars

v Human trafficking sweeping the nation

v Widespread illiteracy

v Little care for human life and pandemic hope-lessness

WithinPatrick’slifetime theabovecrises were vir-tually SOLVED,and the nationtransformed!

Alfred the Great...in the 9th century faced virtually the same crises asAmericans do TODAY:

v A radically dividednation

v Corruption amongleaders

v Decreasing churchinfluence on the cul-ture

v Widespread illiteracy

v Return to ancientpagan practices

v Rebellion againstbiblically based, merci-ful and just laws

v Enemies driven to Christian civilization

v Hopelessness among the people.After Alfred’s 30-year reign in England the abovecrises were virtually SOLVED and the nation wastransformed!

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WORLD HISTORY INSTITUTE teaches the liberating lessons ofhistorically-proven biblical principles to benefit people of all nations.Resources, conferences and tours have been provided since 1976.WHI is a 501 (C)3 non-profit ministry. Your involvement and tax-deductible contributions are encouraged.

World History InstituteP.O. Box 4673Thousand Oaks, CA 91359(805) 523-0072www.WorldHistoryInstitute.com

Stephen Langton...and the people of England in the 13th centuryfaced many of the same crises as Americans doTODAY:

v Excessive taxation and government spending

v The use of regulations to confiscate people’sproperty, wealth and human rights

v The poor becoming poorer

v Government silencing the voice of the church

v The biblically based legal system ignored

v No checks on government power

v The nation fast approaching civil warStephen Langton and the English stood togetherand averted the crises and civil war. They laid thefoundation for England’s march to liberty andprosperity!

The Pilgrims...and early colonists in America in the 17th century,faced similar crises in their home nations in Europethat Americans face TODAY:

v Secular elites controlling all communication

v Persecution of believers who do not conform

v The Bible banned from schools

v Representative government being undermined

v Governments destroying free enterprise throughbribery, favoritism and regulation

v Many believers being forced into exile.

Within a generation, the successful colonists virtu-ally solved these intractable crises in America.

The impact of these sincere believers and their doc-uments has multiplied through the ages culminat-ing in the incredible biblically based freedomdocuments and character that built this “city on ahill” called the United States. These Liberators,most with little money, power or influence, provedhow one person or a small minority of principled,faith-filled individuals can defeat evil at its worst.We can walk in their steps and expect great things.

Charles H. Spurgeon, who brought spiritual awak-ening to the British Empire as it was shrinking inthe 19th century, exhibited great optimism for thefuture. That optimism was not built on the wealth,power and influence of his native England. It wasbased on the power of God working through indi-viduals like you and me. He said, “The greatestworks are done by the ones [single individuals].The hundreds do not often do much, the com-panies never; it is the units, the single individu-als, that are the power and the might.”

— Marshall Foster

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Endnotes1 Stark, Rodney, The Triumph of Christianity (HarperCollins, 2011) p. 369-370, 374

2 “Atheists Sound the Alarm: Decline of Christianity is seriously hurting Society,” Life Site Mon., November 4, 2019, p. 2, 3

3 Holland, Tom, Dominion (Basic Books, 2019) p. 134 D’Souza, Dinesh, What’s So Great About Christianity(Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2007) p. 42, 300-301

5 “McCullough calls national amnesia threat to liberty,” The Washington Times, Friday May 16, 2003

6 Davidson, James and Rees-Mogg, Lord William, The Great Reckoning (Summit Books, 1991) p. 29

7 “The Clean Sea Breeze of the Centuries,” Ethics and Public Policy Center, July 22, 2013

8 Ronald Reagan, A Time For Choosing, Los Angeles, CA, October 27, 1964.