christianity and history

Lately I have been thinking about Christian approaches to history and interpretations of history. The model that I have been told is one of more or less linear progression leading to an ultimate ending. Linear views of history, however, have begun to appeal to me less and less, have begun to seem simplistic. Linear views attempt to order history and create meaning where there is none, and simplify actual historical causation. Additionally, the linear view of history is not necessarily one that is present in scripture. Reading through genesis this quarter, I've noticed how the stories in Genesis defy, in many ways, overarching metanarratives, how they do not fit into simple categories. When I look at genesis, I see the breakdown of metanarrative and the breakdown of linear time, where sequences of beginning, middle, and end, are replaced by cycles of journeying back to the beginning. This is true for much of scripture, where there are many parallels between individual lives and especially the life of Israel. Israel cycles through history and seems to make little progress in its cycles. I am frightened of using metanarratives to disrespect and to over simplify the events in other peoples lives or in my own, in the past or in the present, or in the future. I am frightened that Christians often use superstition as a force of historical causation, and that I'm tempted to do the same.

And yet my experience of my own life is primarily linear, where I can trace my growth and development from childhood until the present, and see significant change, significant progress. But it is also cyclical, where many events seem to repeat what has happened before. Maybe it's fair to say that the actual event never repeats, no matter what, but that the essence of the event continually repeats. I feel like it would be cliche to talk about spirals, but that model really does seem the closest to the truth.