David Barton

David Barton (b. 1954) is the most influential popularizer of Christian nationalist history. His central claim — that the founders built the nation on biblical principles, that the separation of church and state is a modern distortion, and that the Constitution's moral framework derives from the Bible — is widely rejected by historians of the founding era, including evangelical historians, but has been absorbed as fact by tens of millions of evangelical Americans through Barton's books, videos, radio appearances, and curricula. Barton founded WallBuilders in Aledo, Texas, in 1988 — a name drawn from the Book of Nehemiah, which describes the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls. WallBuilders describes its purpose as to 'present America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious, and constitutional heritage.' His most significant vehicle was 'The Jefferson Lies' (2012), which claimed that Thomas Jefferson was an orthodox Christian who supported state-sponsored religion. The book was pulled from publication by its evangelical publisher, Thomas Nelson, after its own fact-checkers and a consortium of Christian historians — including Southern Baptist scholars — found historical details that were 'not adequately supported.' Barton had been awarded a D.Litt. by Oral Roberts University (2011), a credential he used in public presentations to imply academic credentials he does not hold. He holds a B.A. in religious education from Oral Roberts, not a history degree of any kind. Despite — or because of — the collapse of his academic credibility, Barton's political influence expanded. He served as Republican National Committee vice chairman for Texas (1997–2006), worked as a consultant to the U.S. Army on religious issues, and was described by Time magazine in 2005 as one of 'The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.' Glenn Beck called him 'the most important man in America.' Mike Huckabee said in 2011 that all Americans should be forced to listen to Barton 'at gunpoint.' Barton's single most consequential institutional impact was on the Texas State Board of Education. Working as a curriculum consultant, he influenced the 2010 revision of Texas social studies standards — which are disproportionately impactful because Texas's textbook purchasing power shapes what publishers print nationally. The 2010 standards required students to examine why the founders protected religious freedom and to compare that with the phrase 'separation of church and state' (inviting challenge to the concept), study the influence of Judeo-Christian values on the founders, and reduced Jefferson's place in one world-history standard (an amendment by board member Cynthia Dunbar). The standards affected approximately 4.8 million Texas schoolchildren and the content of textbooks used in districts far beyond Texas. Through WallBuilders' 'ProFamily Legislators Conference,' Barton trains state legislators in his revisionist constitutional theology annually. He is a member of the Council for National Policy. His reach into homeschool curricula — through publishers like Apologia, BJU Press adaptations, and direct WallBuilders materials — means his revisionist history has formed the founding-era understanding of millions of evangelical homeschool graduates who are now adults and voters.

Themes this entry appears in

• Christian Nationalism
• Historical Revisionism
• Education
• Anti-Democratic

Connections from David Barton

• founded → WallBuilders (1988) — David Barton founded WallBuilders in Aledo, Texas in 1988 and has led it continuously since, using it as the primary vehicle for distributing his revisionist Christian nationalist founding-era history through books, radio, curricula, and legislative training conferences.

Connections to David Barton

• Christian Nationalism: Before 1940 influenced (1988) — John Fea's 'Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?' traces how Americans, especially between 1789 and 1865, understood the country as a Christian nation, then follows the idea to its present-day advocates. Fea argues that David Barton's version rests on documents taken out of context, a providential reading of history, and a view of professional historians as 'revisionist.'

Sources

• Texas school board fights church-state separation — Texas Tribune (2010)
• The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism — Katherine Stewart (2020), pp. 71–95
• Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right — Randall Balmer (2021), pp. 98–115
• The Jefferson Lies: Barton's Embarrassing Failure — Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter (2012), pp. 1–200
• David Barton's 'The Jefferson Lies' voted least credible history book in print — World Magazine (2012)
• Separation of Church and State: How the First Amendment Became a Tool for Radical Secularism — David Barton (2007), pp. 1–190