Divine Providence."[1] History, in this sense, is a record of the development of mankind under the providential guidance of God; or, more precisely, a record of the systematic training and improvement of the human race by divinely appointed means as a preparation for the birth of Christ, that God might, through the coming of His Son, secure from man a spontaneous homage, a worship worthy of Himself. The coming of Christ, in this view, gives a definite character to history, and the periods both before and after that event – the greatest in history – constitute its two grand divisions,[2] the one the preparation for the coming of Christ, the other the spread and struggle of Christ's kingdom, to the final triumph on the day of Judgment. Christ, therefore, is the central figure of all history, "the stone which was rejected by the builders, which is become the head of the corner."[3]
From this standpoint, then, the Jesuit masters will study and teach the history of Greece and Rome. Of this viewpoint he will not lose sight when reading and explaining the classic authors. It need not be feared that this view will prevent the teacher from doing full justice to these two great nations. On the contrary. In the Greeks he will acknowledge those brilliant gifts of nature which made them the foremost promoters of human art, human knowledge, and human culture. In the history of Rome he will admire that wonderful talent for ruling the world, and
