The Truth Project, Tour 6, Part 2 History

History isn’t just a dusty collection of dates and events—it’s a story that shapes who we are and why we’re here. In Tour 6 of "The Truth Project," titled "History: Whose Story?" Dr. Del Tackett dives deep into this idea, and around the 29-minute mark of the session, he hits a powerful stride. With insights from Theodore Dalrymple and Os Guinness, a couple of piercing Bible passages, and a sharp look at today’s cultural trends, Tackett challenges us to see history as more than random chaos—it’s God’s story, and we’re part of it.

The Weight of Remembering
The discussion kicks off with interviews that set the stage. Theodore Dalrymple, a British physician and writer who’s seen the underbelly of societal breakdown, and Os Guinness, a Christian author and social critic who’s spent decades wrestling with faith and culture, both point to the same truth: history matters. Forget it, and we lose our bearings. Dalrymple’s nodding to the mess we make when we ignore the past, while Guinness frames history as the backbone of meaning—a story bigger than ourselves. It’s a sobering start.

Tackett takes us to Deuteronomy 8:10-20, where God speaks to the Israelites after they’ve settled into the Promised Land. “When you’ve eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you,” the text says. Sounds simple, right? But then comes the warning: don’t think your wealth or success is all your doing. “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deut. 8:18). The Israelites were prone to amnesia, and so are we. Forgetting God’s role in our story isn’t just careless—it’s dangerous.

A Famine of the Soul
Then comes Amos 8:11, a verse that feels like it was written for 2025: “The days are coming… when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” Tackett lingers here, and you can see why. We’re not starving for bread today; we’re starving for truth. When we ditch the past and God’s voice in it, we’re left hungry, groping for something to make sense of life. This isn’t just poetic—it’s a diagnosis of our world right now.

Tackett ties this to God’s sovereign rule. History isn’t a roll of the dice; it’s His design. From Genesis to the end, He’s the author, declaring “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). That’s a comfort if you trust the Writer, but it’s a jolt if you don’t.

Postmodernism’s Dead End
Here’s where it gets gritty. Tackett turns to postmodernism—the cultural mood that says big stories (or “metanarratives”) are suspect. Thinkers like Jean-François Lyotard called it “incredulity toward metanarratives,” and it’s everywhere now. The idea? No single narrative—like the Bible’s account of creation, fall, and redemption—can claim the truth. It’s all just power plays or personal opinions. The result? We’re a society of fragments, with no glue to hold us together. Meaning gets lost in the shuffle, and that famine Amos warned about starts to feel real.

God’s Big Story
But Tackett doesn’t leave us there. Against this backdrop, he lifts up God’s metanarrative—the one story that ties it all together. From the Garden to the Cross to the Kingdom, it’s a plotline of purpose: God creates, humanity rebels, and He redeems. It’s not oppressive or subjective—it’s hope. It’s the answer to a culture that’s rejected big stories and ended up with nothing to say.

So, Whose Story Are We Living?
By the end of this stretch, Tackett’s point is clear: history isn’t neutral. It’s God’s domain, and we’re in it whether we like it or not. Postmodernism might scoff, but the hunger in our souls suggests we need more than skepticism. Deuteronomy calls us to remember. Amos warns us what happens when we don’t. And God’s story invites us in—to find our place, our meaning, in His.

So here’s the question: Whose story are you living? The world’s fragmented script, or the one that’s been unfolding since the beginning? Tackett’s chosen the latter—as have we.