N. T. Wright on faith and history
During the question-time after one of the lectures, I asked Bishop Wright about the relationship between faith and historical research. He responded to the question, and then he ended with these words:
“Some historians could do with a good dose of faith; and I know of many faithful Christians who could do with a good dose of history!”
Amen to that!
I sometimes find history tougher slogging than say theology. But there is an undeniable connection between history and why we think what we think. Too many of my conservative evangelical friends have a very narrow perspective on history - they would be pure romantics if you could get away with naming them anything. They would even claim that historians conspire against the 'truth'. Truth is historians write from their milleau same as these folks read from their milleau. I have to agree wholeheartedly with Wright as well.
For an excellent recent apologia for historiography - and one which constructively-critically engages with postmodern scepticism - try In Defence of History by Richard J. Evans, Professor of Modern History at Cambridge. The edition I own was published in 1997, but there is now a second edition with an additional chapter in which the author responds to criticisms and developments.
Evans concludes: "Through the sources we use, and the methods with which we handle them, we can, if we are very careful and thorough, approach a reconstruction of past reality that may be partial and provisional, and certainly will not be objective, but is nevertheless true."
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