Encouragement and research for Christian teachers and leaders who want to bring their faith, teaching, and learning together
When History Meets His Story: Applying God’s Narrative in the Classroom
Start Simply with Time and SpaceDear Reader, Last time, I shared my journey with the Bible growing up and the clarity I discovered once I could visualize the entire story through the plot diagram. I still smile when I think of how Jesus revealed himself to me through a concept I had known my entire career. He's like that, though, isn't he? Scripture shows us over and over again how God meets us where we are and then shows us the true version found in Him. Looking back, this personal revelation with the Bible actually served to meet a DOK Level One objective for integrating faith and learning in my classroom. I could articulate understanding of God's greater narrative by naming and identifying the literary elements of His story. Those foundational elements led me to wonder how all of my subject content fit within His story. Where does my content illustrate Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration? How do my students' and my stories reflect His story? Simply allowing space and time to explore these questions with my students made room for us to faithfully engage with the foundations of a Biblical worldview. Roger Erdvig's (2020) Beyond Biblical Integration, a fantastic read that I highly recommend, explains how "for the Christian, all our individual and broader human experiences are tied to this four part story" (p.48). He describes Creation as reflecting how things ought to be, the Fall as what is, Redemption as what can be, and Restoration as what will be when Christ returns (Erdvig, 2020). The simplicity of those words—ought, is, can, and will—creates language that teachers and students can use to reflect on the literary elements in God's story. Putting this into Practice At the close of last school year, a phenomenal veteran teacher—new to Christian education—approached me with a question: how could she weave more biblical worldview into her 8th-grade U.S. History class? Her students had already been exploring God’s greater narrative through English, and she had entered the year having read Ervig (2020). Now, with her first year nearly complete, she felt ready to step into the uncharted territory of faith integration. Together, we designed an assignment that immersed her students in the themes of Creation, Fall, and Redemption using the “ought–is–can” lens. Students selected a historical event or time period from their second semester to investigate more deeply. They revisited their notes and readings to uncover evidence of each theme, and then wrote reflective essays tracing how those themes unfolded in history. The excerpt below is the final paragraph of a student who explored the Civil War. To sum it up, the Civil War, while just one chapter in U.S history, revealed deep national
brokenness rooted in the sin of slavery and the mistreatment of others. It was a time when God's
design for equality, peace, and justice was ignored and people allowed sin to corrupt their sense
of right and wrong. Through battles like Shiloh and the assassination of President Lincoln, God's
commandments were violated in tragic ways. Yet, even in the midst of this darkness, hope
emerged through the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment marking a turning
point towards justice and freedom. From a biblical perspective, the Civil War serves as a
powerful reminder that while sin distorts God's plan, his purpose can still prevail through
redemption, healing, and the pursuit of righteousness.
As the new school year begins, this amazing teacher already has her students discussing the themes of God's greater narrative and is committed to establishing time and space for intentional reflection throughout her units this year. He Is Faithful in the Process For Christian school educators, knowing the Bible and God’s greater narrative is just as important as knowing our subject content. We aren’t simply teaching history, math, or literature—we’re inviting students to see how every subject connects to His story. That can feel like a big responsibility, especially when you’re new. But take heart! God blesses our efforts. The more we open His Word with the intention of tying it to what we teach, the more He reveals and strengthens our understanding. I’ve experienced the pure joy of seeing my subject come alive in new ways—not because I had all the answers, but because God was faithful to meet me in the process. Until Next Time: References Erdvig, R. (2020). Beyond biblical integration. Summit Ministries. Hess, K. (2009). HESS’ cognitive rigor matrix & curricular examples: Applying Webb’s depth-of-knowledge levels to Bloom’s cognitive process dimensions - ELA. https://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/M1-Slide_22_DOK_Hess_Cognitive_Rigor.pdf
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Liturji
Encouragement and research for Christian teachers and leaders who want to bring their faith, teaching, and learning together
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