Of history majors

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I have been hanging out at the history honours room for the past few days. Some experiences that I have.

Firstly, I feel like a freshman. Why? Cos I'm now getting to know my classmates as if we have never met before... well, I dun know most of them before this also. Have seen them around but never know them. So, as I interact with them, the level of excitement that we have in knowing each other certainly won't pale in comparison with that of the freshmen.

Secondly, it's fun hanging out with the history majors. Not that I no longer want to hang out at HQ. HQ will forever be my primary hang out place, be it at NUS or SMU. But I realise that history majors normally share the same passion towards the subject, regardless how much they want to wail and complain about the lecturers and modules (I find histo quite fun). It's a different feeling talking about history with this gang, compared to the brothers and sisters in church... when I have to be the only expert in history, or rather the lonely expert in history. Here in the history honours room, I find myself to be easily humbled by the people here, given that some are smart, but mainly because I dun need to be the expert here.

As I type this, of course, I realise that the church needs people who have passion for history and who can appreciate history at its most professional level. One main reason is because history is so important in Christianity. First of all, the foundation of Christianity lies in the historical fact of whether Jesus rose from the tomb or not. So much hinges on this single historical event. Second, people normally confuse between Christian history and Christianity itself. Historical events like the Crusades and the inquisitions, so are they representative of Christianity or the people who claim that they are practising Christianity.

Lastly, when history is seen in a superficial level, events can be easily misunderstood. For example, during the ACTSCalibre first event, I was appalled by people shouting 'hail hitler' as cheer, and yet feeling nothing about it. And when I mentioned this to the leaders, I have the feeling that it was seen as a minor issue. But then how can that be a minor issue? There is a fundamental difference between hailing a respectable leader in history and hailing a devil... If Christians are unable to differentiate this, then how are we going to stand out in the world and claim our 'salt and light' position?

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