I receive a daily e-mail from Christian History magazine citing significant historical events from that particular date. The magazine is part of the Christianity Today family, so you can expect a rather conservative bent to their material, but what they point out is usually very accurate. I look at these each day and post (with some editing) on my Facebook page. They often use the term “greatest” or “most influential” about a person, and I think those terms are always dependent on the larger context, so I usually take those out.
I am often surprised by the responses I receive on these posts. This was one of my posts last week:
May 8, 1845: The Southern Baptist Convention organizes in Augusta, Georgia, separating from the Triennial Convention in order to support the appointment of slaveholders as missionaries.
The post received 71 likes, 26 comments, and 37 shares. Following the shares was particularly interesting. Some were surprised by this fact (and it is undeniably a fact). Others used it as opportunity to discuss how our culture and impact our biblical interpretation. Some thought it was an attack on the Southern Baptist Convention and pointed out that 150 years later the SBC in session “apologized” for this action.
Perhaps the most surprising responses came after others shared the post on their timelines. Comments included, “Why would you want to share something so hurtful?” and “Well, the Presbyterians and Methodists took the same action.”
Let me be clear on two things. First, this is an historical fact. If we take offense at sharing history, we are failing to learn lessons that are important to us in the present. In the Life of Reason (1905), George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” There are theological, social, economic, and scientific lessons we can learn from those who have gone before us—both in their successes and their failures.
Second, memories of our past can hurt—both personally and socially. I can think back to times when I treated people inappropriately. This causes me some grief and I cannot change what I did then, but I can learn from it and act differently. Past events have an impact both on individuals and society.
I plan to continue sharing historical facts with minimum interpretation. I hope my readers find them helpful. I hope they will generate civil conversation.
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