Where Did the History of the World Begin?
As I painfully trudged through Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, it was interesting to learn about his new take on the history of the world. He claims…“From the beginning of time, the centre of Asia was where empires were made. The alluvial lowlands of Mesopotamia, fed by the Tigris and Euphrates, provided the basis for civilisation itself—for it was in this region that the first towns and cities took shape. Systematised agriculture developed in Mesopotamia and across the whole of the “Fertile Crescent,” a band of highly productive land with access to plentiful water, stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean coast.”[1] Asia being the center of history was fascinating, especially just returning from Hong Kong and Beijing. Reading that Asia was the center of raw goods, trade, and religion reminded me of the book we read before going to South Africa called How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind. In the book, the author highlighted evidence for Africa being the birthplace of Christianity, while Frankopan argues that Asia is the center for religions, including Christianity. By this time I am extremely confused, which didn’t take much since I was already half asleep from the droning of all the historical accounts being detailed.
This lead me to do a little more research on the book, which lead me to the following excerpt from Anthony Sattin’s review of The Silk Roads: “This “new history of the world” is a strangely myopic one for it starts by ignoring thousands of years of documented human achievement to look at the rise of the Persian empire. But Frankopan is quick to make a point of this apparently arbitrary opening: he wants to recalibrate our view of history, to challenge assumptions about where we come from and what has shaped us. The traditional view, taught in our schools and supported by the layout of many of our museums, is that we are the heirs of the glorious Romans, who were in turn heir to the Greeks, who, in some accounts, were heirs to the Egyptians. Seen in this way, the Mediterranean well deserves its name for it is literally the middle of the world. Frankopan disagrees with the Eurocentric view and places the centre of the world some way to the east, beyond Mesopotamia and the Caucasus, in Iran and the “stans”.”[2] Obviously this reviewer disagrees with Frankopan’s new centering of world history in Asia, which confirmed my confusion regarding how Africa plays into the history of Christianity and world religion. I already struggled to get through a history book, even though I can hear the history buffs in my ear saying, “make sure you learn history or you will be in danger of repeating it.” Unfortunately, this book did not help convince me to power through any more history books than I absolutely have to. It was interesting to view history through the perspective of the silk roads, and some of what I read caused me to double take at times, but overall it did not capture my attention like many of the other books we have read.
One of the quotes that actually caught my attention was…“It was not only goods that flowed along the arteries that linked the Pacific, Central Asia, India, the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean in antiquity; so did ideas. And among the most powerful ideas were those that concerned the divine.”[3] This caused me to daydream a little about how ideas about God developed and spread around the world. The author talked about how cults came in contact with established religious beliefs and ideas about the divine became rather competitive. This does not seem too far off of how people are introduced to the idea of Creator God today. It seems like the competition for ideas about the divine are as diverse and plentiful as ever, with many people developing very unique concepts of who God is to them. I have not pondered this concept of ideas about God, or the divine, as a competition, but it clicked when I thought about all of the spiritual ideas competing for the attention of our young people today. Not that older folks are not exposed to this competition as well, but I feel like our young people are especially vulnerable to the competition of ideas about God and faith. I believe the One True God has the power to win this competition for the hearts of all people, young and old, and I believe we are called to be His mouthpiece in speaking the Truth in Love![4] If for not anything else, this book did launch me down this interesting and productive rabbit trail…and helped with my afternoon nap J, for this I will be thankful.
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[1] Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Kindle Edition), 1.
[2] Anthony Sattin, The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan Review – A Frustrating Trail, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/29/silk-roads-peter-frankopan-review
[3] Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Kindle Edition), 27.
About the Author
Jake Dean-Hill
Currently a Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice. Ordained minister with 10 years of prior full-time church ministry experience and currently volunteering with a local church plant. Also working with companies as a Corporate Leadership Coach.10 responses to “Where Did the History of the World Begin?”
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Jake
Cracked me up that you said that you “trudged through this book” and “droning of all the details.” The last section on the ideas of God coming from other cultures and places fascinates me. Whether you meant it this way or not, I find it interesting when cultures begin to understand christianity, describe God and read the Bible through very different lenses than a Westerner. Some of my best memories within a small group is to have other people begin to tell me what they think a particular story is about and am amazed at the interpretation they come up with. Stories like the good Samaritan and prodigal son are usually taught in such a way that we all know the answers to the questions a small group leader will ask. If you let someone from another culture teach it, one will astounded at what can be learned when this living Word of God is allowed to be read by the eyes of another of God’s creations.
Yes, I apologize for my negative sentiment of the book. Your description of what it is like to hear the Word of God shared and seen through the eyes of others, especially from another culture very much resonated with me. I’m sure it is fascinating getting to experience that all the time in China. Thanks for sharing Greg.
So Jake, did you like this book? LOL. I appreciated your reflection on the interpretation regarding the “divine;” a description that we would give to God, and God alone. That made me think about the temples we saw from three different religions compiled together on one city block; and all I could think was that these people have no idea who the Divine really is.
Unlike yourself, I love the history story, even when it may be tainted by personal biases or perceptions. I suppose that is what I am hoping that this program will teach me the most; how to look at things through the eyes of others. Though I desire to see that way, it does not mean I desire to accept their reality as fact; but hopefully gain some understanding through it. There were a number of times I found myself challenging the history or the perspectives described, but perhaps that is our weakness in the Western world…we always want to revise rather than hear. Greg’s views on China have really taught me a lot through this semester already, and I have a feeling, they will continue to slap me around a little in the days to come.
Good job
Thanks Shawn, and I apologize for my negative sentiment of the book and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I agree with you about the disturbing nature of going to the temples and seeing people worship their version of the Divine. I also am enjoying the process of learning about different cultures, but I definitely enjoy learning about them in person as opposed to from a history book 🙂
Jake,
Interesting that I also made the connection with Oden’s book about Africa and Christianity. From your post it doesn’t seem like you like reading history texts very much. You were able to grasp how it was not just silk and other goods that were exchanged but ideas, many of those regarding understanding of the divine. How do you see that exchange taking place today and how do you think it is altering our understanding of God?
Thanks Dan, and I apologize for my negative sentiment regarding the book, it just didn’t connect with me, but interesting it caused you to think about Oden’s book as well. I definitely think social media has become the new “silk road” for exchanging ideas and I think too many people take what they read from Joe Public hook line and sinker, without checking it out. I think this has created lots of confusion among young people. What would be your answer to the same question?
Ha! Yeah, it was not as interesting as the other this semester. Very far-fetched in comparison to our leadership books this semester. I got this book on Audible, and it was a great filler for car rides. I dont think I could have engaged reading it as normal.
you bring up a good point, BUT WHAT CAN I DO WITH ALL THIS INFO? And everyone runs to say repeat history thing. But really, what is my action step?
Thanks Kyle, you are the first one to agree with me that the reading this week was rather dry. I feel like I might have offended all of the history buffs 🙂 Good point about lack of practical application, looking forward to the next book.
Jake,
Boy, you really didn’t like this book :)! I’m glad you shared your dislike and concerns – it helps me process this book from a different lens. Were there any parts of this history that you found helpful? Accurate?
Maybe I came out a little too strong with my negative sentiment of the book ? Nothing against the author, I just have a hard time engaging with all the details of the historical accounts. The part about the exchange of ideas was helpful and I’m sure much of the book was fairly accurate, but I frankly don’t have enough interest to care. I much more enjoy learning about history and culture in person.