Includes bibliographical references.

Foreword / John Dickson -- Introduction -- Part I. How we lost our connection to history. -- What is the ahistoric age? -- The ahistoric age in society -- The ahistoric age in the church -- Part II. Why we need history. -- What is history? -- Why does history matter? -- How do we engage with the past? -- Tending the past : recovering overlooked stories -- Keeping the past : preserving a rich conversation -- Part III. How history can help us. -- Stewarding our time -- Recovering sacredness and beauty -- History and intellectual formation -- History and spiritual formation -- Conclusion: History and the renewal of the church.

"How can Christians engage meaningfully with history? We live in an Ahistoric Age. Much of contemporary Western cuture has embraced the idea that life is about self-invention and self-fulfilment and that the past has nothing to teach us. In the attempt to appear relevant, the church often embraces this ahistoric worldview by jettisoning the historic ideas and practices of Christian formation. But this has unintended consequences, leaving Christians unmoored from history and losing the ability to grapple with its ethical complexities. In Priests of History, Sarah Irving-Stonebraker draws upon her expertise and her experience as an atheist who became a Christian as an adult to examine what history is and why it matters. If Christians can learn how to be priests of history, tending and keeping our past, history can help us strengthen and revive our spiritual and intellectual formation and equip us to communicate the gospel in a confused and rootless world." -- Publisher, page four of cover.