David Barton: "a former school principal and an ordained minister, has steadily built a reputation as a guiding spirit of the religious right"

I’ve been on a tour of the US Capitol with Barton, and he lived above me in DC for a while. (The last I knew, he rents an apartment from the American Association of Christian Schools). He history tends to be a little simplistic. He’ll look up a word in a dictionary from the period and read the meanings he finds back into founding documents in a sometimes irresponsible way. He’s not a trained historian, and it bites him sometimes.

David Barton meriting a front-page article in the Thursday, May 5, 2011 New York Times is no mean feat. The article makes much of the fact that Barton’s research informs the rhetoric and thinking of Republican candidates. I suspected the NYT was providing left-wingers a primer on a powerful backgrouund player. I can’t call it a “hit piece” since the Times was pretty fair, though they missed no opportunity to undermine his credibility (for example, the print edition headline called Barton a “History Buff”).

A lot of Christians have been familiar with Barton and Wallbuilders for awhile, but Barton’s recurring appearances on Glenn Beck have elevated his stature to where I think he’s becoming a serious force and—depending on your political leanings—a threat, hence the Times piece.

Gary

David Barton and Wallbuilders are committed to excellence. I saw him speak in person one time, and his PowerPoint slides were unbelievable. All of the products that Wallbuilders produce are also very high in quality.
One other point — this one on substance. Barton believes in verbal inspiration and he really knows his Bible. Why do I say this? Listen to him talk about government from a Biblical worldview. He makes points based on insights from some of the most obscure texts you could imagine. Does he take Scripture out of context sometimes to make it fit his point? Perhaps. But I wish that the average preacher even knew the Scriptures half as well as Barton does. We can argue about the interpretation later.
I may not agree with all of his theology, history, purpose or associations, but I have high regard and respect for David Barton. I pray that God will continue to guide and prosper him.