What is History?

WHAT IS HISTORY?

1. Shaped by human choice, but influence by God towards a final goal
2. Events reflect evolutionary or naturalistic process
3. Heaven’s mandate manifested in a harmonious society
4. Shaped by God who expects absolute submission to His will
5. Humans, possessing divinity, make history in an evolving world
6. Shaped by heroic persons with power
7. Human choice shapes history
8. On-going struggle with the spirit world
9. Endless cycle of birth, suffering, and death
10. We all have our stories, but there is no larger master story
11. History is about the meaning of events [1]

The answer may reflect; Confucianism, Islam, Buddhism, New Age, Hinduism, Naturalism, Nihilism, Post-Modernism, Animism, Existentialism, or Judeo-Christianity. The most common worldview frameworks worldwide.

So what is your view of what history is?

According to the great Enlightenment figure, Voltaire, “History, is the lie that everyone agrees on”. This is ironic, and probably not true. But this was his view. He of course is famous for his own works of historiography, along with his counterpart Edward Gibbon and their slander of the church. They are responsible for a number of Myths in regard to history. Just as they are responsible for some very decent history. Good history is informative as to what events took place, and maybe why.

Ancient historiography is about how deity shaped the human and cosmological events of the past.

Modern historiography is typically about how human choices and natural processes shaped the events of the past.

But the question remains, what if any is the level of Gods involvement in the process?

[1] 2013 Bob Osburn (based upon an earlier survey by David Montoya)