Priests of History: Stewarding the Past in an Ahistoric Age with Sarah Irving-Stonebraker

Hank Unplugged: Essential Christian Conversations

The Christian Research Institute

Education, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

5 • 791 Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2025

⏱️ 106 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How can Christians engage meaningfully with history?

In an age underpinned by the idea that life is about self-invention and fulfilment, contemporary Western culture holds that the past has little to teach us. We live in an age that historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker terms as the “Ahistoric Age,” in which we are profoundly disconnected from history.

In the attempt to appear relevant, the church often embraces this ahistoric worldview by jettisoning the historic ideas and practices of Christian formation. But this has unintended consequences, leaving Christians unmoored from history and losing the ability to grapple with its ethical complexities.

Sarah Irving-Stonebraker joins Hank Hanegraaff to discuss what it means to be a priest of history and why it matters more than ever for Christians to maintain this critical conversation with the past.
To receive Priests of History: Stewarding the Past in an Ahistoric Age for your partnering gift, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resources-priests-of-history-stewarding-the-past-in-an-ahistoric-age/

Topics discussed include:

What does it mean for Christians to be priests of history? (3:00)
What does it mean for our age to be ahistoric? (5:00)
Is there any purpose in a post-truth age? (8:35)
The myth of progress—the secularization of ideas and progress in history (14:55)
When did our modern ahistoric age begin? (18:30)
Reducing history to ideology is a mistake because history is nuanced and complex (23:55)
What is the purpose of a museum? The modern and political redefinition of what a museum is (27:30)
What does the decline of history majors globally mean for civilization? (29:45)
The five characteristics of an ahistoric age (32:00)
What is digital tribalism? (36:30)
What does it mean for the church to acculturate itself to the ahistoric age? (38:30)
True Christianity is a way of life (46:00)
The benefits of spiritual practice and disciplines (50:05)
Doctrinal drift from orthodox Christian beliefs (53:00)
Church is an embodied experience—what we do with our bodies matters (1:06:45)
The value of historic Christian practices such as night vigils (1:08:50)
The importance of maintaining a historical conversation with the past (1:13:25)
The importance of history for Christians (1:16:30)
Are we losing our literacy? The importance of reading in the digital age (1:22:45)
How Sarah Irving-Stonebraker went converted from atheism to Christianity at Cambridge University (1:24:30)
The importance of stories (1:38:30)
Why is it important for Christians to be priests of history? (1:42:45)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to another edition of the Hank Unplugged podcast, a podcast that is irrevocably devoted to bringing the most interesting, informative and inspirational people directly to your earbuds.
0:36.6	And today is another exceptional opportunity to interview an
0:43.5	incredible person. She's interesting. She's informative. She's inspirational. And by the way,
0:49.7	as we get into the podcast, if you enjoy the podcast, subscribe, write review, it helps a lot.
0:57.0	The book that we're going to be talking about today, let me introduce the book first and then
1:01.1	the guest. It's called Priests of History. The subtitle is very interesting as well, stewarding
1:09.0	the past in an ahistoric age. And let me mention that
1:13.2	for those who stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the Battle for Life and Truth, this book
1:18.2	available. You can get it on the web at equip.org, eQUIP.org. You can also write me at Post Office
1:26.2	Box 8500, Charlotte, North North Carolina zip code 28271.
1:32.3	Well, the author of this book is an incredible person.
1:36.3	I mean, just reading her testimony in the book made me salivate over the opportunity to interview her on this podcast.
1:43.3	Her name is Sarah Irving Stonebreaker.
1:46.4	She's a professor of history and Western civilization in Australia Catholic University in North
1:52.9	Sydney. I was just in Australia a couple of weeks ago, and I know that Sarah is basking in
2:00.3	sunshine while I'm in a place where I can see snow
2:04.0	outside. She is currently co-editor of the Journal of Religious History. She received her PhD
2:11.3	in History from the University of Cambridge. She held a research fellowship at the University
2:17.1	of Oxford.
2:18.3	She converted from atheism to Christianity while an assistant professor at Florida State University,
2:25.3	towards the end of the podcast, I want you to hear her testimony. It's incredible.
2:30.3	Her first book, a book titled Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire,
	...

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