Have you ever seen a child at play with blocks or other building toys? Many a little boy and girl have spent an afternoon stacking and combining building blocks—sometimes made of plastic and sometimes of wood—creating whatever shapes and structures strike their fancy. Perhaps in their imaginary world they are constructing the buildings of a busy city street, or crafting the walls and towers of a castle, ready for adventure.

Why do we think and believe the way we do? What has molded and shaped our perspectives over the centuries? What has made the world the way it is? In this series, we are going to focus on individuals, ideas and events that have had a major impact on the world and changed the course of history. While many today assume the flow of history is random—that things just happen—others suspect there is evidence of purpose and direction, and that an outside force is guiding history. In spite of what critics believe, the Bible makes numerous claims that God determines the rise and fall of nations, and guides the course of history (Job 12:23; Daniel 2:21; 4:17).

Economist, demographer, and Cambridge scholar Thomas Malthus was born 250 years ago, in February 1766, near Dorking, England. His father is said to have been a friend of the philosophers David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the young man imbibed philosophy, Latin, Greek and mathematics as a student at Oxford.

Since the time of Confederation, Canada has held 42 federal elections, with the most recent occurring on October 19, 2015. The 78-day campaign—long by Canadian standards—leading up to October 19 consisted of rallies, TV debates and the traditional door-to-door appeal to the voter for support of their party. The Liberal Party of Canada, headed by Mr. Justin Trudeau, won a decisive victory—garnering 39.5 percent of the popular vote and 54 percent (184 of 338) of the seats in the House of Commons, thus forming a majority government.

Yes, words really can hurt us. Are we doing our best to choose our words in a Christian manner?