PATTERNS IN HISTORY - A CHRISTIAN VIEW

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A Book Review

Presented to

Rev. Malcolm B. Yarnell III, DPhil Oxon

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

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In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for SYSTH 3114

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Heinrich Kehler

October 7, 2008

David W. Bebbington. Patterns in History: A Christian View. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979. 221pp. $19.46.

David W. Bebbington was born in 1949 and is currently a professor of history at the University of Stirling in Scotland since 1976. His research field is history in connection with politics, religion, and society. Additionally, one of his special subjects making him a well-known person is the history of the global evangelical movement. One of his works is Patterns in History which deals with the question of historical interpretation. In the following I want to summarize and evaluate briefly the first four chapters.

Summary

In the first chapter Bebbington deals with the question, "What is history?" (1-20). One has to distinguish between 'historiography' and 'historical process'. While the 'historical process' is the subject the historian deals with, the 'historiography' is what a historian sets out to attempt. Bebbington emphasizes: "Between the historian and the people about whom he writes there is a great gulf fixed." (2). However, by considering history there are some other problems, namely, the problem of evidence and the problem of the historian himself. The problem of evidence is expressed in the difference between the written history and the actual past. The subject-matter, i.e. the past, is not available for investigation because the historian is separated from it by time. The other problem, the historian himself, means that every historian looks at history from his own (unique) perspective. Bebbington infers that "[i]t may seem to follow that nothing can be known about the past." (8) Hence he sees probability as one of the guides of history. However, this includes that every historian can only make assumptions on and about history. Concluding the first chapter, Bebbington summarizes five philosophies (patterns) of history. These five patterns are: the cyclical view, the linear view (Christian view), the idea of progress, historicism, and the Marxist view.

In the second chapter Bebbington gives an outline of the cyclical view of history. The idea behind this concept is that one can observe different processes which are repeated over and over (for example days, months, seasons, years, generations, and civilizations). There are three main variations of the cyclical view. The first variation is the rising up and falling down of dynasties and civilizations. The second variation is that "even the universe is passing through a cycle" (22). The third variation is that "the past is a time of steady decline from a lost golden age to the decadence of the present" (22). One could have thought that this view occurs only in the Chinese civilization. In fact, this view also existed in Indian and ancient Middle East civilizations. However, all of them had a different view on history as a cyclical process. Concerning the Chinese cyclical view history was written "to serve a practical purpose" (22-3). Telling history was to them a guide for the officials as well as for the normal population. The Indian cyclical view of history was unlike since their thinking about history aimed to escape history. True life is only beyond history in an eternal sphere. In the ancient Middle East the Persian idea of cyclical history "symbolized a progressive decadence" (26), and in the end of time there will be a judgment. But also in the concepts of ancient philosophers and historians the cyclical view is somehow visible. With Friedrich Nietzsche, Oswald Spengler, and Arnold Toynbee, the cyclical view came up again after the enlightenment as it was almost forgotten in the Middle Ages. Evaluating the cyclical view of history Bebbington asserts that at least this view could not be held up against the linear view of history. "The rises and falls of history show no consistent pattern" (41), he assesses.

The third chapter is an abstract about the linear view of history. This view comes out of the Jewish-Christian tradition and is totally different from the cyclical view. The very important point is that history is heading towards a goal. Christians, therefore, in general have three convictions about history: "God intervenes in it; [...] he guides it in a straight line; and [...] he will bring it to the conclusion that he has planned" (43). This is "…the core of the Christian doctrine of providence" (43). In the OT one can see that God was active in history. The purpose of these interventions was "…to bring judgment or mercy" (44). In fact, the whole historical process, and not only parts of it, was and is under his guidance. Just like Jesus Christ came into this world, and so into history itself, this concept was implemented throughout the NT, too. The coming of Jesus was clearly an intervention in history and a bringing of blessings as well as judgments. The actions of the apostles were a continuing intervention of God in history, but "…the historical process would come to an end" (50). This is the apocalyptical part of the linear view of history. God will be victorious in the future. For this reason Christians should have confidence in the future. Yet the linear view changed somehow. When Christianity became an undisputed (unchallenged) religion in the Roman Empire the thought grew that that was the millennium of peace. Further, through the Middle Ages this idea was increasingly developed. Bebbington diagnoses: "The mediaeval Christian world-view was remarkably static" (57). In the modern period the Christian linear view of history was hardly challenged. However, still up to the present this view is still present in most of the Christian conceptions on history. "A God who guides the course of history but who is opposed on the way will surely bring the process to a triumphant conclusion" (65), Bebbington concludes the third chapter.

In the fourth chapter Bebbington abridges the third pattern, The idea of progress. The idea of progress is a product of the Christian linear view of history and the ideas of the enlightenment, so that it has elements of both concepts. "It is linear, offers confidence in the future and entails acceptance of unchanging moral values" (68). However, the difference is that history is a progress and moves towards a future where man becomes perfect. Just like ever developing technology, man's intellect is developing, too. However, the starting point is not creation and, vice versa, the ending place is not judgment. Further, the idea of progress offers a high expectation of the future. Human happiness and its rationality are the explicit criteria about progress. Cultural change is a key concept in the idea of progress. Additionally, the developing science of man is another concept of the idea of progress. Bebbington describes it as follows "The aim of history is to create a science of man" (78). Another goal of history is a time when liberty of man will be fully realized. To assess this concept Bebbington writes that "[T]he idea of progress has suffered vicissitudes in the twentieth century. The First World War struck a blow at more facile versions of popular optimism" (88). Then he goes on and says: "The second war struck a second blow" (89). That is the result when humanity thinks it can make progress on its own, without God!