The title of this post will make more sense by the end.
About a month ago, I read John Fea's Why Study History?, and a number of things - which I'll discuss more in future blog posts - impacted me. I'll try and do justice to two of them in this post.
Chapter Five - "Christian Resources for the Study of the Past" has a great deal of valuable counsel. What I want to make mention of is the section labelled "The Imago Dei." For some Latter-day Saints, this phrase may be unfamiliar. It is Latin for "the image of God."
Fea begins the section by reminding his readers that "historians are not in the business of studying God; they are in the business of studying humans."[1] As Christians, however, he reminds us that humanity was created in the image of God, citing Genesis 1:26-27 to that effect:
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Emphasis mine)
He moves on from this scripture to issue his readers with - in my opinion - a stern reminder of what that verse should mean to historians as they practice their craft:
That God created us in his image, that we are the highest form of his creation, implies that all human beings have inherent dignity and worth independent of their actions and behavior. Because we are made in the likeness of our creator and thus share, in some fashion, the divine image, human life is precious and sacred. There are no villains in history. While people have been created with freedom, and are thus capable of performing villainous or sinful acts, even the most despicable human subject bears the image of God and thus has inherent value in God’s eyes.[2]
This knocked me back, and it shouldn't have.
I know that.
But in the heat of the moment, I too often forget it.
...[T]he imago Dei should also inform the way a Christian does history. This doctrine should guide us in the kinds of stories we tell about the people whom we come across when visiting the “foreign country” that is the past. It should shape the way we teach the past, write about the past, and interpret the past.
We are under an obligation - a solemn one, in my opinion - to represent the past accurately. That applies to both the "heroes" and the "villains." And, as Fea said above, "There are no villains in history."
This is a daunting task; a complete unbiased history is impossible. But we should strive toward it. Present people - and they were people - in their entirety.
Their shining moments.
Their foibles and their ornerinesses.
Where they succeeded and where they failed.
In these polarizing days, it's too easy to deify or demonize at a moment's glance. In Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 the Lord exhorts us to "[r]emember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." Then, a section later, the Lord reminds us that He "suffered these things for all" (emphasis mine).
The Savior suffered for all whom we will ever study.
We owe Him everything, and we certainly owe Him to not dishonor his sacrifice by a historical hatchet job on someone He suffered and died for. This doesn't mean we condone their deeds, far from it. Or, as the apostle Paul would say, "God forbid!"
Finding that balance? Ay, that's the rub! And it brings me to something Fea asks later in the book:
How often do we pray over our scholarly historical work? And I don’t mean a prayer for help in getting the paper done on time or a prayer that we keep our sanity amid the heavy workload. I mean a prayer that the Lord would use our study of the past in all its fullness to change us.[3]
Prayer to better our academic research? It may seem like a contradiction in terms to some, but I firmly believe that it's one of the best ways that we can better our research and writing.
Not a prayer to confirm our preconceived notions, but a prayer like Fea's above. That the Lord will use our study of the past to change us for the better.
I don't have anything to say beyond that. This is something I'm struggling to work out myself, and this blog post has been helpful in organizing my thoughts a bit.
Fea does provide a lovely prayer though, from St. Thomas Aquinas, that he hangs above his desk. I enjoyed it, and I think I'll take to doing the same thing myself.
Thomas Aquinas, “A Prayer before Study”
Ineffable Creator,
Who, from the treasures of Your wisdom,
has established three hierarchies of angels,
has arrayed them in marvelous order
above the fiery heavens,
and has marshaled the regions
of the universe with such artful skill,
You are proclaimed
the true font of light and wisdom,
and the primal origin raised high beyond all things.
Pour forth a ray of Your brightness
into the darkened places of my mind;
disperse from my soul
the twofold darkness
into which I was born:
sin and ignorance.
You make eloquent the tongues of infants.
Refine my speech
and pour forth upon my lips
the goodness of Your blessing.
Grant to me
keenness of mind,
capacity to remember,
skill in learning,
subtlety to interpret,
and eloquence in speech.
May You
Guide the beginning of my work,
direct its progress,
and bring it to completion.
You Who are true God and true Man,
Who live and reign, world without end.
Amen.[4]
Footnotes
[1] Fea, John. Why Study History?: Reflecting on the Importance of the Past (p. 85). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[2] Ibid., 85-86.
[3] Ibid., p. 134.
[4] Ibid., pp. 134-135.
