History—Should We Trust It?

“A knowledge of history brings . . . a feeling that we are part of a fellowship that runs through the ages from long before our birth to long after our death.”—A COMPANION TO THE STUDY OF HISTORY, BY MICHAEL STANFORD.

TO LIVE without history is to live without a form of memory. Without history you, your family, your tribe, or even your nation would seem to be without roots, without a past. The present would seem to have no foundation and little if any meaning.

History can be a vast reservoir of lessons for life. It can help us avoid falling into the same old pitfalls time and again. As one philosopher asserted, people who forget about the past are condemned to repeat it. Being familiar with history can open our minds to past civilizations, amazing discoveries, fascinating people, and different ways of looking at things.

But since history deals with people and events of long ago, how do we know if it can be trusted? If we are going to learn valuable lessons from history, then obviously these must be based on truth. And when we discover truth, we ought to accept it, even though that may not always be palatable. The past can be like a cactus garden—it has its beauty and its barbs; it can inspire, and it can prick.

In the following articles, we will consider some aspects of history that can help us assess the accuracy of what we read. We will also consider how authentic history can benefit the discerning reader.

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Queen Nefertiti

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What lessons can be learned from history?

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Nefertiti: Ägyptisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin

Border: Photograph taken by courtesy of the British Museum

What Can We Learn From the Past?

“Nothing is more important for historians than to chart cause and effect.”—GERALD SCHLABACH, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY.

HISTORIANS often ask, How and why did certain events happen? For example, history tells us that the Roman Empire fell. But why did it fall? Was it because of corruption or pleasure-seeking? Had the empire become too unwieldy and its armies too costly? Were Rome’s enemies simply becoming too many and too powerful?

More recently, Eastern European Communism, once seen as a threat to the West, collapsed seemingly overnight in one country after another. But why? And what lessons are there to be learned? These are the kinds of questions historians try to answer. But in providing answers, to what extent does personal bias affect their judgment?

Can History Be Trusted?

Historians are more like detectives than scientists. They investigate, question, and challenge records from the past. They aim for truth, but their target is often indistinct. Part of the reason is that their work is largely about people, and historians cannot read minds—especially the minds of the dead. Historians may also have preconceived ideas and prejudices. Hence, sometimes the best work is really an interpretation—from the writer’s own perspective.

Of course, a historian’s having his own point of view does not necessarily mean his work is inaccurate. The Biblical narratives of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles include parallel accounts that were written by five different individuals, yet it can be shown that they contain no significant contradictions or inaccuracies. The same is true of the four Gospels. Many Bible writers even recorded their own faults and foolish mistakes—something rarely seen in secular works.—Numbers 20:9-12; Deuteronomy 32:48-52.

Besides possible prejudices, another important factor to consider when reading history is the motive of the writer. “Any history told by the wielders of power, or by seekers after power or by their friends, must be regarded with the utmost suspicion,” says Michael Stanford in A Companion to the Study of History. Questionable motive is also evident when works of history betray a subtle or even a bold plea to nationalism and patriotism. Sadly, this is sometimes found in school textbooks. A government decree in one country stated quite openly that the purpose of teaching history is “to strengthen the nationalist and patriotic sentiments in the hearts of the people . . . because the knowledge of the nation’s past is one of the most important incentives to patriotic behaviour.”

Doctored History

Sometimes history is not just biased but doctored. The former Soviet Union, for instance, “expunged the name Trotsky from the record, so that the fact of the commissar’s existence disappeared,” says the book Truth in History. Who was Trotsky? He was a leader in the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and was second only to Lenin. After Lenin’s death, Trotsky clashed with Stalin, was expelled from the Communist Party, and was later murdered. His name was even purged from Soviet encyclopedias. Similar distortions of history, even to the point of burning nonconforming books, have been a regular practice of many dictatorial regimes.

Doctoring history, however, is an ancient practice, dating back at least as far as Egypt and Assyria. Proud and vain, pharaohs, kings, and emperors ensured that their historical legacy was flattering. So achievements were routinely exaggerated, while anything embarrassing or dishonorable, such as defeat in warfare, was played down, erased, or sometimes not even reported. In sharp contrast, the history of Israel recorded in the Bible includes both the failures and the glories of kings and subjects alike.

How do historians check the accuracy of older writings? They compare these with such things as old tax records, law codes, advertisements for slave auctions, business and private letters and records, inscriptions on pottery shards, ships’ logs, and items found in tombs and graves. This miscellany often sheds additional or different light on official writings. Where gaps or uncertainties remain, good historians will usually say so, even though they might offer their own theories to fill the gaps. In any case, wise readers consult more than one reference if they seek a balanced interpretation.

In spite of all the challenges that the historian faces, his work can have much to offer. One history book explains: “Hard as it is to write, . . . world history is important, even essential, to us.” Besides providing a window on the past, history can broaden our understanding of the present human condition. We soon discover, for instance, that the ancients displayed the same human traits that people display today. These recurring traits have had a major impact on history, perhaps leading to the saying that history repeats itself. But is that a sound generalization?

Does History Repeat Itself?

Can we accurately predict the future on the basis of the past? Certain types of events do recur. For example, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said: “Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed.” He added: “History is a tale of efforts that failed, of aspirations that weren’t realized. . . . So, as a historian, one has to live with a sense of the inevitability of tragedy.”

No two empires fell the same way. Babylon fell overnight before the Medes and the Persians in 539 B.C.E. Greece broke up into a number of kingdoms after the death of Alexander the Great, eventually giving way to Rome. Rome’s demise, however, remains controversial. Historian Gerald Schlabach asks: “When did Rome fall? Did it ever really fall? Something changed in Western Europe between 400 CE and 600 CE. But much continued.”a Clearly, some aspects of history recur, while others do not.

One consistently recurring lesson of history is the failure of human rulership. In all ages good government has constantly been foiled by self-interest, shortsightedness, greed, corruption, nepotism, and especially the lust to obtain and retain power. Hence, the past is littered with arms races, failed treaties, wars, social unrest and violence, the unfair distribution of wealth, and collapsed economies.

For example, note what The Columbia History of the World says of the influence of Western civilization on the rest of the world: “After Columbus and Cortes had awakened the people of Western Europe to the possibilities, their appetite for converts, profits, and fame was thoroughly aroused and Western civilization was introduced, mainly by force, over nearly all the globe. Equipped with an unappeasable urge to expand and with superior weapons, conquerors made the rest of the world into an unwilling appendage of the great European powers . . . The peoples of these continents [Africa, Asia, and the Americas] were, in short, the victims of a ruthless, unrelenting exploitation.” How true are the words found in the Bible at Ecclesiastes 8:9: “Man has dominated man to his injury”!

Perhaps this lamentable record is what moved one German philosopher to comment that the only thing to be learned from history is that men learn nothing from history. Jeremiah 10:23 states: “The course of man is not in his control, nor is it in man’s power as he goes his way to guide his steps.” (The Jerusalem Bible) This inability to guide our steps should especially concern us today. Why? Because we are afflicted by problems that in both number and scale are without precedent. So how will we cope?

Problems Without Precedent

In the entire history of mankind, never before has the whole earth been threatened by the combined forces of deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, massive extinction of plant and animal species, atmospheric ozone depletion, pollution, global warming, dying oceans, and an exploding human population.

“Another challenge facing modern societies is the sheer speed of change,” says the book A Green History of the World. Ed Ayres, editor of World Watch magazine, writes: “We are being confronted by something so completely outside our collective experience that we don’t really see it, even when the evidence is overwhelming. For us, that ‘something’ is a blitz of enormous biological and physical alterations in the world that has been sustaining us.”

In view of these and related problems, historian Pardon E. Tillinghast states: “The directions in which society is moving have become infinitely more complex, and for many of us the dilemmas are terrifying. What guidance can professional historians offer to confused people today? Not very much, it seems.”

Professional historians may be at a loss as to what to do or what to advise, but surely that would not be true of our Creator. In fact, he foretold in the Bible that in the last days, the world would experience “critical times hard to deal with.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) But God has gone even further and done something historians are powerless to do—he has shown the way out, as we will see in the following article.

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“Any history told by the wielders of power . . . must be regarded with the utmost suspicion.”—MICHAEL STANFORD, HISTORIAN

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Emperor Nero

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Roma, Musei Capitolini

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In all ages “man has dominated man to his injury”

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“The Conquerors,” by Pierre Fritel. Includes (left to right): Ramses II, Attila, Hannibal, Tamerlane, Julius Caesar (center), Napoléon I, Alexander the Great, Nebuchadnezzar, and Charlemagne. From the book The Library of Historic Characters and Famous Events, Vol. III, 1895; planes: USAF photo

The Bible—Authentic History?

THEY censured rulers. They castigated priests. They reproved the common people for their wickedness. They even put their own failings and sins on public record. They were hounded and persecuted, and some were even murdered for speaking and writing the truth. Who were they? The prophets of the Bible, many of whom contributed to the Holy Scriptures.—Matthew 23:35-37.

In his book The Historian and History, Page Smith writes: “[The Hebrews] were as pitiless to their heroes as to their villains, to themselves as to their adversaries, because they were writing under the eye of God and had nothing to gain and much to lose by dissembling.” Smith also wrote that “alongside the tedious chronologies of the warrior kings of Syria or Egypt, the account of the tribulations and the triumphs of a people chosen by God . . . make[s] an enthralling story. The Hebrew chroniclers had discovered one of the most essential elements of history—that it is enacted by real people, with all their faults and blemishes.”

The Bible writers were also meticulously accurate. After analyzing the Bible in the light of history and archaeology, writer Werner Keller said in the introduction of his book The Bible as History: “In view of the overwhelming mass of authentic and well-attested evidence now available, . . . there kept hammering on my brain this one sentence: ‘The Bible is right after all!’”

Dynamic History With Powerful Lessons

For the most part, the Bible writers were men of the earth—farmers, shepherds, fishermen. Yet, what they wrote over a period of some 1,600 years has influenced more people than any other writings, ancient or modern. Furthermore, their writings have been attacked from all quarters, but in vain. (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25) Today the Bible can be read in whole or in part in some 2,200 languages—far more than any other book! Why does the Bible enjoy such a distinction? The following references help answer that question.

“All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”—2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

“All the things that were written aforetime were written for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.”—Romans 15:4.

“These things went on befalling them [the Israelites] as examples, and they were written for a warning to us [Christians] upon whom the ends of the systems of things have arrived.”—1 Corinthians 10:11.

Yes, as a divinely inspired and preserved record of real people—some who pleased God and some who did not—the Bible is elevated above all other books. It is far from a clinical listing of dos and don’ts or a collection of cute little stories to entertain children. True, God used human penmen, but this has only enhanced the Bible, giving it a warm appeal that has touched the hearts of readers generation after generation. Archaeologist William Albright stated: “The profound moral and spiritual intuitions of the Bible, which form a unique revelation of God to man through the channels of human experience, are just as true today as they were two or three thousand years ago.”

To illustrate the Bible’s timeless relevance, let us go back to the very beginning of human history—where the Bible alone can take us—and consider some key lessons from the book of Genesis.

Timely Lessons From an Ancient Narrative

Among other things, the book of Genesis reveals the start of the human family—names and all. On this subject no other work of history is so specific. ‘But what is the value today of knowing our original ancestry?’ you may ask. It has immense value, for in revealing that all humans—regardless of color, tribe, or nation—stem from the same parents, Genesis removes any basis for racism.—Acts 17:26.

Genesis also offers guidance on morality. It contains the account about Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighboring cities, which God destroyed because of the gross sexual perversion of their inhabitants. (Genesis 18:20–19:29) Jude Verse 7 of the Bible book of Jude says: “Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them, after they . . . had committed fornication excessively and gone out after flesh for unnatural use, are placed before us as a warning example.” The people of Sodom and Gomorrah did not receive any moral laws from God; however, like all humans, they had the God-given faculty of conscience. Hence, God could justly hold those people accountable for their deeds. (Romans 1:26, 27; 2:14, 15) Likewise today, God will hold all humans accountable for their deeds, whether they accept his Word, the Holy Bible, or not.—2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9.

A History Lesson in Survival

A relief on the Arch of Titus in Rome depicts Roman soldiers carrying off sacred vessels from the temple in Jerusalem after the city’s destruction in the year 70 C.E. Over a million Jews were killed. However, obedient Christians survived, thanks to Jesus’ advance warning: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near. Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her; because these are days for meting out justice.”—Luke 21:20-22.

Far from being just ancient history, Jerusalem’s tribulation foreshadowed aspects of a greater tribulation soon to engulf the entire world. But once again, there will be survivors. These are described as “a great crowd . . . out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” They “come out of the great tribulation” because of their faith in Jesus’ shed blood—a faith firmly based on Biblical history and prophecy.—Revelation 7:9, 14.

History That Will Never Be Repeated

Today we live in the time of the ascendancy of the Anglo-American World Power, the last of Bible prophecy. History’s pattern says that like the others before it, it should come to an end. But how? According to the Bible, this power’s end will truly be unique. Pointing ahead to the year 1914 C.E., Daniel 2:44 said of the ruling political powers, or “kingdoms”: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”

Yes, God’s Kingdom—his heavenly government led by Christ Jesus—will obliterate every vestige of oppressive human rulership at Armageddon, the climax of the aforementioned “great tribulation.” Thereafter, this Kingdom will “not be passed on to any other people,” meaning that it will never be overthrown or voted out of office. Its dominion will be “to the ends of the earth.”—Psalm 72:8.

At last, the cruel cycle of domination by false religion, oppressive politics, and greedy commerce will cease. Psalm 72:7 promises: “The righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more.” Not selfishness and pride but God’s preeminent quality of love will permeate the planet. (1 John 4:8) Jesus said: “Love one another.” Concerning this, historian Will Durant said: “My final lesson of history is the same as that of Jesus. . . . Love is the most practical thing in the world.”

God’s love for humans moved him to inspire the writing of the Bible. It alone truly illuminates the past, the present, and the future. Please embrace its life-giving message by investing a modest amount of time in Bible study. To that end and in obedience to Jesus’ command, Jehovah’s Witnesses share the “good news of the kingdom” with their neighbors. This good news will soon be more than prophecy. It will become living history.—Matthew 24:14.

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“The Bible is right after all!”—WERNER KELLER

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“The profound moral and spiritual intuitions of the Bible . . . are just as true today as they were two or three thousand years ago.”—WILLIAM ALBRIGHT, ARCHAEOLOGIST

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Moabite Stone: Contains King Mesha’s version of the conflict between Moab and Israel (2 Kings 3:4-27), the names of various Bible places, and God’s name in ancient Hebrew letters.

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Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Silver denarius coin: Replica bears image and inscription of Tiberius Caesar (Mark 12:15-17).

Nabonidus Chronicle: A cuneiform tablet that confirms the sudden fall of Babylon to Cyrus. (Daniel, chapter 5)

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Photograph taken by courtesy of the British Museum.

Stone slab: Bears name of Pontius Pilate in Latin.

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Photograph © Israel Museum, Jerusalem; courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.

Background of Dead Sea Scroll: A study of the Isaiah text proved that this book had remained practically unchanged over a period of 1,000 years of hand copying.

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Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

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A relief on the Arch of Titus confirms Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E.

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Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma