The Empires of the Bible

Indeed, History has been well defined as "Philosophy teaching by example." But upon this, the important question is: What philosophy? Shall it be a mere human philosophy, or rather theory, conjured up and pressed into the example, or even extracted from the example? Or shall it be the divine philosophy revealed, and thus preceding all, and so be really Philosophy teaching by example? A theory contrived and history drawn to and fitted upon that theory, though it might form a fine essay or even an interesting book, could never in any true sense be the philosophy of history: while the pages of historical works everywhere give all too abundant evidence of deductions drawn and explanations offered that are altogether inconclusive, and far from being the true philosophy of the case. This serious lack in the writing of history was forcibly remarked by Dr. Johnson in 1775, in words that are worth repeating: "That certain kings reigned, and that certain battles were fought, we can depend upon as true; but all the coloring, all the philosophy of history, is conjecture." Without the Bible, and taking history as a whole, - the history of the world, - this is unquestionably true.