An Interview with Sarah Irving-Stonebraker, Author of Priests of History

SARAH IRVING-STONEBRAKER (PhD, Cambridge) is associate professor of history and Western Civilization at Australian Catholic University. She converted from atheism to Christianity while an assistant professor at Florida State University. Her first book, Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire, won the Royal Society of Literature and Jerwood Foundation Award. She and her husband Johnathan live in Sydney, Australia, with their three children and are members of an Anglican church in the Diocese of Sydney.

ZA: Priests of History argues that we’re currently living in what you call the “Ahistoric Age.” How so?

Irving-Stonebraker: I am struck by how disconnected contemporary Western societies are from history. What I mean by the “Ahistoric Age” is that we have almost completely lost the ability to engage meaningfully with the past. We live in a culture underpinned by the idea that life is at heart a matter of self-invention and fulfilment, so there is a sense that the past has little to teach us. 

History has become so politicised that it is often reduced to ideology; we struggle to engage in civil disagreement about history’s ethical complexities. People in the West also know less about history: Data sets reveal that younger generations have very poor historical knowledge, and there has been a significant decline in history enrollments at universities in the past decade.

ZA: What dangers do you foresee for churches that remain cut off from their historical roots?

Irving-Stonebraker: I think there are four dangers, broadly speaking. First, there’s a loss of discipleship. When we view our history as irrelevant, we dispense with the way Christians have been discipled for centuries. In fact, a recent Barna study found that only 20 percent of Christian adults are involved in any discipleship activity. 

Second, church doctrine drifts away from orthodoxy. When history is viewed as irrelevant, or when we view the past through a contemporary political lens, we are far more likely to dismiss or redefine historic orthodox doctrine, ignoring how centuries of theologians have interpreted important issues like marriage, sin, and the Trinity.

Third, we see an uncritical embrace of marketing and entertainment and become oblivious to the impact of contemporary culture on the church. For example, some churches today rarely celebrate the Lord’s Supper because it might make people feel uncomfortable. Others have abandoned the sharing of the peace or praying a prayer of confession. Or at the end of the service, they have replaced formally sending people back into the world with a cheerful-but-shallow encouragement to simply “have a great week.” 

And fourth, the pastor becomes a like a celebrity or a CEO who replaces the historic practice of pastoring sheep in person with corporate and celebrity models.

ZA: What is the solution? How can churches and individuals start reestablishing and strengthening their connections to the past?

Irving-Stonebraker: History is a rich storehouse—a “vast treasury,” to quote Isaac Watts—if we are wise enough to steward it well. Christians are called to be priests of history who do the work of “tending and keeping”—watching over and cultivating—the past. Approaching the past through this priestly vocation involves, first, the conservative work of guarding, protecting, and passing down historical knowledge, practices, habits, and traditions, and second, the more progressive work of uncovering overlooked histories, bringing historical injustices to light, and recognizing the sins of the past, including our own. 

If we steward history like this, then we can actually draw upon the historic practices of discipleship. In Priests of History, I explore the lives of a number of historical
figures to show how tending and keeping the past can help us redeem our time, engage with sacredness and beauty, and enrich our intellectual and spiritual
formation. 

If we steward history well, we can not only strengthen and revive our spiritual and intellectual formation, but we can also equip ourselves to communicate the truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus Christ to a confused and rootless world.

This interview was originally published in the Spring 2024 Zondervan Academic Catalog. View our most recent catalog at ZondervanAcademic.com/ZACatalog.