What does it actually look like to teach history from within a biblical worldview?
In the second episode of our series on teaching history, Roger Erdvig and Maggie Pope move from the why of teaching history biblically to the practical question every teacher eventually asks: What does this look like in my classroom?
And while the conversation focuses on history, the principles extend far beyond the history classroom. As Maggie reflects, learning to see one area of life through a biblical worldview can reshape how we see everything—from our academic disciplines to the ordinary work of everyday life.
Roger and Maggie explore three practical ways teachers can approach history from within a biblical worldview:
1. Use the biblical metanarrative as an interpretive framework.
2. Ask the Applied Worldview Questions.
3. Build instruction around biblical truth claims.
But teaching history biblically isn’t only about what students know. History can also shape what students love, how they live, and how they understand themselves.
Roger and Maggie discuss how studying the decisions and consequences of people in the past can shape students’ desires and habits. Teachers can invite students to compare historical decisions with choices they face today, evaluate those decisions in light of Scripture, and consider what might happen if they followed similar paths.
Finally, history develops worldview awareness. Encountering people and cultures dramatically different from our own creates contrast—and contrast can bring clarity. Studying the past gives students an opportunity not merely to judge another worldview, but to become more aware of the assumptions shaping their own.
For history teachers, that makes the classroom an extraordinary place for formation. As Roger concludes, teachers have all of human history available to help students develop a worldview increasingly aligned with Scripture.
Resources:
Learn more in Roger Erdvig’s new book, Teach Biblically: History—A Guide for Seeing History Within a Biblical Worldview.