David Barton?

Duplicate thread. Already addressed this in the other one.

 

==I really don't know if I would say that Barton is twisting history so much as he is very one-sided. Many attack him because he is a conservative Christian yet, in debate, they get creamed by Barton. He knows his history but I do think he avoids things that don't fit the picture he is trying to paint. I doubt that is done on purpose.

A good church historian, focusing on American church history, is Mark Noll. I would strongly recommend "The Old Religion in a New World: The History of American Christianity" and "A History of Christianity in The United States and Canada" or most anything else Noll has written on history (and there is alot). Another historian, who deals directly with many of the founders, is Edwin S. Gaustad. Noll and Gaustad have done alot of work together and, generally, they are on the same page. Gaustad has some fine works out there. One very interesting work is "Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson". Both of these authors can be easily found by doing a author search at amazon.com.

==One problem I do have with folks like Barton is that they will take words used by, let's say, George Washington and make it sound like he was this strong Christian. Yet there is an historical context for those words that must be considered. So, again, I think he presents his case well. However I would advise anyone to read different historians, to consult the original sources when one can, and not to put too much trust into any one historian. Why? Because we all make mistakes, we all have bias that affect our views, and because different people may take a different "take" on certain historical figures (etc).

==Not sure what this is about. History is not about proving someone right or wrong. Proper historical study is about finding out what actually happened (etc). That can be difficult and good, even Christian, people can disagree. A person is not a heretic simply because they don't believe Washington, Adams, and Madison were evangelical Christians (just an example).

 

Martin,

Excellent points, all. I read the Gaustad book a few years ago. It was very good. And I would echo what you said about actually reading the Founders. There are many excellent collections/selections of writings of the various Founders available. I mentioned some books on the other Barton thread, too, that I particularly enjoyed on this topic.

 

Am closing this thread since it is a duplicate & FTRs was started first. It is here:

http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=36801

But thank you for the information you posted.

Lady Eagle,
Moderator