Resources for a Christian approach to history - updated

These titles deal specifically with a reformational approach to history.
I have not included titles on a history of X, or biblical history or specific periods - that is a task for another time (and probably another person).
My thanks to Paul Otto for helpful suggestions.

There are several reformational scholars who have worked in the area of history. These include:

• George Harinck
• C. Thomas McIntire
• Paul Otto
• M. C. Smit
• Keith Sewell
• Harry van Dyke

See also the resources at  reformational cliosophy



Herman Dooyeweerd 1996. Christian Philosophy and the Meaning of History. Lewiston NY USA: Edwin Mellen Press. A compilation of four articles:

• 1956 Christian philosophy: an exploration. Scientia
• 1942 The meaning of history. De Zin der Geschieden
• 1958 The Criteria of Progressive and Reactionary Tendencies in History. First delivered in 1958 to the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
• 1957 The dangers of the intellectual disarmament of Christianity in science. Geestelijk Weerloos of Weerbaar?

Harry J. Groenewold 2000. A vision of history for students. Pro Rege. 28 (4)

Harry J. Groenewold 2010. A Christian View of History: From Antiquity To The Reformation PageMaster

Kenn Hermann (nd) The Pedagogical Strengths of Teaching History Backward. 

Ben House 2008. Punic Wars & Culture Wars: Christian Essays on History and Teaching.  Covent Media Press.

Robert Knudsen 1976. History: The Encounter of Christianity with Secular Science. Cherry Hill, NJ: Mack Publishing Co.

C. Thomas McIntire
1985 Dooyeweerd's philosophy of history. In McIntire (ed.) The Legacy of Herman Dooyeweerd: Critical Philosophy in the Christian Tradition (University Press of America, 1985)
2004.   Herbert Butterfield: Historian as Dissenter (Yale University Press)
1992    "History". In Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith (Westminster/John Knox,)
1977. The Renewal of Christian Views of History in an Age of Catastrophe. In McIntire (ed), God, History and Historians: Modern Christian Views of History. Oxford University Press.
1974. The Ongoing Task of Christian Historiography (Institute for Christian Studies, distributed by Wedge Press)
1976.  Historical Study: A Christian Approach. Institute for Christian Studies Perspective, Supplement.
1975.  God's Work in History:  The Post-Biblical Epoch. Association for the Advancement of Christian Scholarship Papers)
1981. The Focus of Historical Study: A Christian View. Fides et Historia 14 (1): 6-20
1984.  Historical study and the historical dimension of our world,” in History and Historical Understanding, ed. C.T. McIntire and Ronald Wells (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984)
1987.  Christian Views of History. In Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade (ed.) (Macmillan Free Press)

Paul Otto 2006. The Dutch-Munsee Encounter in America: The Struggle for Sovereignty in the Hudson Valley. New York: Berghahn Books.
2004. Teaching history as creational development. Fides et Historia 36, no. 1 (Winter/Spring): 118-124.
2005. Historical studies and creational development: constructing a history program in light of a Reformed perspective. Pro Rege 34, no. 1 (Sept): 6-15.
2000. (editor) Global history or Western civilization: a symposium Pro Rege 28 (4)

Willem Ouweneel 2016. Probing the Past: An Introduction to Christian History. Paideia Press. 

K. J. Popma 2020. Scriptural Reflections on History. Translated and Edited by Harry Van Dyke.  Wordbridge.

Keith Sewell
The Eclipse of History and the Crisis in the Humanities
2004. Fortunes of history: Historical inquiry from Herder to Huizinga. Pro Rege. 32. March 2004. 43-44.
2000. "History wars" - "Holy wars" or, history in contention. Pro Rege. 28 (4). 2-10.
2005. Herbert Butterfield and the Interpretation of History. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Calvin Seerveld 1975. The pedagogical strength of a Christian methodology in philosophical historiography. Koers 40: 269-313

Calvin Seerveld 1991. Footprints in the Snow. Philosophia Reformata 56: 1-34

M. C. Smit 2002. Toward a Christian Conception of History.  Edited and translated by Herbert Donald Morton and Harry Van Dyke

M. C. Smit 2021 (2nd edn) Writings on God and History. Edited and translated by Herbert Donals Morton and Harry Van Dyke. Dordt Press.

Harry Van Dyke 2000. Defining moments in western-global history. Pro Rege. 28 (4)

Louis J. Voskuil 2000. Western civilization or world history: a true dilemma? Pro Rege. 28 (4)

Bernard Zylstra 1970. The Christian teacher and history: can history be approached normatively?



More general evangelical / Reformed books/ resources on history include the following

The Conference on Faith and History

The Conference on Faith and History is a community of scholars exploring the relationship between Christian faith and history. We welcome members from a variety of Christian traditions around the world. We also seek to learn from scholars outside the Christian tradition. Our primary goal is to encourage excellence in the theory and practice of history from the perspective of historic Christianity.

Fides et Historia

is a refereed journal of history that appears twice a year. Submissions are welcomed on a wide variety of topics and themes related to the intersection of Christian faith and historical inquiry. It should be stressed that FIDES ET HISTORIA does not deal only with religious or church history; the editors welcome scholarly research that is relevant to the journal’s core readership of historians who teach at Christian colleges, universities, and secondary schools. The journal also publishes reflections on theories and methods of history from a Christian perspective.

David Bebbington Patterns in History Leicester: IVP.

Maxie Burch 1996. The Evangelical Historians: The Historiography of George Marsden, Nathan Hatch and Mark Noll. University Press of America.

Ian Clary 2015. Evangelical Historiography: The Debate over Christian History Evangelical Quarterly 87(3)

John Fea, Jay Green and Eric Miller (ed.) 2010. Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and The Historian's Vocation. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

John Fea 2013. Why Study History? Reflecting on the Importance of the Past. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic

Jay D. Green 2015. Christian Historiography: Five Rival Versions. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.

Mark Noll, George Marsden and Frank Roberts (ed.) 1975. A Christian View of History? Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Contents

Part I.
"Why study history?" Mused Clio / Dirk W. Jellema
A Christian perspective for the teaching of history / George M. Marsden
The ongoing task of Christian historiography / C.T. McIntire -
The muse meets the master : Clio and Christ / Donald A. MacPhee
History as a social science : a Christian's response / Edwin J. Van Kley

Part II.
Herbert Butterfield : the legacy of a Christian historian / William A. Speck
Kenneth Scott Latourette's vocation as Christian historian / William A. Speck -
Dooyeweerd as historian / Dale K. Van Kley
Christianity and history : a bibliographical essay / M. Howard Rienstra.

C.T. McIntire and Ronald Wells (editors) 1984. History and Historical Understanding, ed. C.T. McIntire and Ronald Wells (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984)

Scripture, history, and the quest for meaning / Langdon Gilkey --
Historical study and the historical dimension of our world / C.T. McIntire --
The difference in being a Christian and the difference it makes--for history / Martin E. Marty --
Common sense and the spiritual vision of history / George Marsden --
History, objectivity, and the Christian scholar / M. Howard Rienstra --
Christian faith and historical method : contradiction, compromise, or tension? / Robert T. Handy --
Social science history : an appreciative critique / Robert P. Swierenga --
Christianity, Christian interpretation, and the origins of the French Revolution / Dale Van Kley.

W. Standford Reid 1973. The problem of Christian interpretation of history Fides et Historia 5: 96-106
W. Standford Reid 1980. Is there a Christian approach to the writing of history? Fides et Historia 12:104-113.
Ronald Wells (ed.) 1999. History and the Christian Historian. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
Ronald Wells 1989. History Through the Eyes of Faith. HarperOne

Perspectives on Dooyeweerd's view of history

Earl William Kennedy, 1973. Herman Dooyeweerd on History: An attempt to Understand Him. Fides et Historia 6

Nick van Til 1973. Dooyeweerd’s ‘History’ and the Historian. Pro Rege 2 (1): 7-15

Dale K. Van Kley 1975. Dooyeweerd as historian in Marsden and Roberts (ed.)