Interpreting History

There is an underlying idea that connects the thoughts behind defining ethics, interpreting history, and defining right doctrine and worship, which is ones knowledge of history. The wider ones view is of history and the knowledge and understanding one has of the events and motivations throughout history, the greater chance one has of getting these foundational ideas right.

One area in which we see this is that of eschatology. By far, the predominant eschatological view in America is dispensational premillenialism. This view has taken such a hold that most Christians don't even realize there are other views. This is really unfortunate because dispensational premillenialism is only about 100 years old.

This is my point, someone with a well informed knowledge of church history would realize that dispensational premillenialism is a recent innovation. Prior to approximately 1900, the church knew nothing of dispensational premillenialism. It had not been fabricated yet.  Of course, its proponents would not admit this.  Its proponents would argue the antiquity of dispensational premillenialism.

Granted, some people don’t see this as an issue. In fact, many Christians see corporate sanctification as a given. But there are inherent problems with the church developing new doctrines over time. What does this necessarily say about the church prior to the new doctrinal development?

One thing that is seriously exacerbating this problem is the now current American culture has developed in such a way that science and math are emphasized and history is all but ignored. The very short-term benefits of science are going to be far overshadowed by the damage of historical ignorance.  Two of these could be the repeating of mistakes and long-term cultural misdirection.