Does understanding the past help us live more effectively in the present? Can historical fiction be useful for learning about the past?

History. As we continue to experience a renaissance of interest in the positive, biblical roots that gird the American experience, we must be careful not to overlook the darker moments and events which have also shaped our nation and the culture in which we now live. The Bible teaches that we must learn from both our successes and our failures.

The Bible unmistakably reveals both the blessings and the flaws of God's people. We read about Moses' disobedience, Jacob's deceptions and Eli's failure as a father. Eccl. 1:9-11, 3:15 and 12:13-14 remind us that God cares deeply about the past and the choices and actions men and women have made throughout their lives, including the hidden and negative things.

Our history is replete with glorious moments and also gross failures from which we can trace many of our present-day problems. Our founding fathers penned two of the most profound documents humanly crafted: the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Yet these gifted men included those who held slaves in bondage. Even some of our Puritan forefathers owned slaves and spoke of the African people in denigrating terms. And in our pursuit of a Manifest Destiny to populate our vast continent, we broke hundreds of treaties with Native Americans and often drove them at gunpoint from their homes and their lands.

Just as God revealed the flaws of his saints in the Bible, a rounded study of American history should include both the bright and dark moments of its leaders. When we do not study our nation's failures, we often deify very human men and women who indeed had failures. At best, we do not understand the lessons God wants us to learn. At worst, we can make those whom we venerate appear hypocritical - for saying one thing but then doing another.

Fiction. The use of fictional stories to convey messages and themes is clearly biblical. Jesus frequently used parables. Much of the Bible, especially the prophetic books, uses imagery to communicate God's message. One of the best examples is found in 2 Samuel, chapter 12.

After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then orchestrated the death of her husband Uriah, Nathan the prophet confronted the king about his deed. He did not take a direct approach, but instead told him a story - one that he knew David would perceive as real. Nathan told David about two men, one rich and one poor. The rich man had a large flock, but the poor man had only one lamb. The rich man took the poor man's lamb and slaughtered it to feed a visiting friend.

Upon hearing Nathan's story, David became indignant, decreeing that the rich man be condemned to die. But then Nathan delivered the ironic revelation. Looking David squarely in the eye, he declared,"You are the man!"

David hung his head; his sin and treachery had been revealed. He acknowledged and repented of his sin. God used Nathan's story to touch David's heart and to call his past into account. As a result, David could feel empathy for the man he had treated so unfairly. Stories help us see, for a moment, through someone else's perspective and emotions.

Historical fiction, stories with fact-based content, can help us, as Nathan's story helped David, to see ourselves in a way that softens us and causes us to be open to God as He calls our nation's past, good and bad, into account.