Changing the emphasis on one word can significantly alter the meaning of a question. You probably read the title of this article with the emphasise on “you”? However, my intention is to emphasise the “how”? You see, it’s one of those oft used phrases, along with expressing the desire to be “on the right side of history” which sounds rhetorically brilliant but I’m not convinced mean anything much at all.
How can history judge you? That’s the real point. You see, history is not a person, it does not have emotional or intellectual faculties. History is an academic subject, it should be the object of any sentence, not the subject. History does not have the capacity or jurisdiction to make judgements. Specific historians may make judgements and assessments on people and events but that does not mean that their judgement is particularly valued, they probably will not even agree on the judgement. Historians today are still trying to decide whether or not Richard III was guilty of murdering the princes in the tower. It might be a little while before they get round to ruling on how say a few MPs voted on a motion in the House of Commons.
Funny isn’t it that when people give up on God that they are left subject to the verdicts of impersonal forces. Funny how those forces lack eyes to see, ears to hear or voices to speak. The Bible has a word for such entities, they are idols.
Really what people mean by history is “other people at a later date.” However, what they specifically mean is “other people at a later date who have happen to share my view.” Inevitably, the person asking the question goes on to make clear how they think history will judge. You see, their comments are not really about history at all. After all, who really cares about how they will be viewed many years after they are long dead. Most of us are more likely to be forgotten than judged in the future. No, the person asking the question is really telling us how they judge us and are presuming that due to some particular giftedness on their part, they are able to make judgements correctly that most of their contemporaries are unable to but due to progress, everyone in time will realise. They are not really offering History the role of judge, they are setting themselves up as infallible, authoritative judge.
So, I wouldn’t be too worried about how history is going to judge you. Instead by concerned to know God’s verdict.
Faithroots 