History and Belief

“This is a thoughtful treatise in the realm between history and philosophy, the product of mature reflection on the part of a historian who has himself struggled for decades with the issues of historical understanding and writing honest history, Robert Eric Frykenberg shows us many different functions of 'history — including memory, mythic legacy, anecdote, narrative, classicity, and theodicy (as 'redemptive event'). But he is at his sharpest in the chapter titled 'History as Rhetoric,' in which he boldly assaults the ideologically charged bastions of postmodernism, post-Orientalism, subalternism, and other manifestations of the literary theory of 'culture studies' approach. Overall, this book reinforces eloquently the truth that deep-seated religious or ideological beliefs inform the very conceptualization of history and are inextricably intertwined with historical understanding.”

Daniel H. Bays

“This important new work provides a penetrating guide to historical knowledge and its structure and limits. The treatment given to the origins of historical understanding, its epistemology, and its character in various world civilizations is impressive. Most importantly, this book gives us one of the best introductions that we have to the relationship between knowledge, belief, and faith in historical study, helping to elucidate the historical grounding of belief and the search for meaning.”

Stanley G. Payne

“Building upon four decades of his own scholarly work in the field of history, Frykenberg presents a notable achievement for clarifying the rich overlap between facts and theory, evidence and belief, history and religion, East and West. He deserves to be commended.”

Lamin Sanneh