As an American patriot and Christian, I feel the need to mention some grievances that have come to my attention in the recent months.
David Barton, historian and writer (and the Founder and President of
WallBuilders), recently published a book entitled
The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson through Thomas Nelson Publishers, one of the most prominent Christian publishing companies. The book was repealed after the publisher "lost confidence" in
The Jefferson Lies.
This is the official
statement from the WallBuilders web site in response to Thomas Nelson Publisher's repeal of the book.
"The announcement that Thomas Nelson has pulled The Jefferson Lies because it has 'lost confidence' in the work has become national news. However, while Thomas Nelson may have “lost confidence” in the work, others have not and thus the book has already been picked up by a much larger national publisher and distributor. Even at the time Nelson dropped the work, they admitted that it was still selling very well.
"As is the case with all of our published items, we go above and beyond with original source documentation so that people can be thoroughly confident when they see the truth of history for themselves. We find it regrettable that Thomas Nelson never contacted us with even one specific area of concern before curtly notifying us they had dropped the work. Had they done so, we would have been happy to provide them with the thorough and extensive historical documentation for any question or issue they raised; they never asked. The Jefferson Lies has not been pulled from publication and it will continue to sell nationally."
In
this article, Barton addresses individual critics' concerns and statements about
The Jefferson Lies. (I was planning on quoting parts of this article, but found very quickly that I would need to quote the
entire article for accuracy, so it's much better if you just read the article for yourself.) He speaks very well for himself, so I would
strongly encourage you to read it.
Why is Barton taking so many negative hits for trying to educate others - especially Americans - about the truth of our Founding Fathers using original documents and eyewitness accounts?
I cannot make a final judgment call on why Barton's critics are being so negative, but I can point to what the Scriptures say about human nature tends to treat truth.
God is a God of truth.
...a God of truth... {Deuteronomy 32:4}
...all his works are done in truth. {Psalm 33:4}
...his truth endureth to all generations. {Psalm 100:5}
...thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. {Psalm 108:4}
....thy law is the truth. {Psalm 119:142}
...all thy commandments are truth. {Psalm 119:151}
Fallen, depraved man has a natural tendency to reject God's truth and replace it with man's lies, even men who have accepted Christ as their Savior (see Romans 1 and 2). Many times, this is because the truth isn't "convenient." Truth doesn't fit with our preconceived notions, and that makes us uncomfortable. So we skew truth/reality to fit with what makes us comfortable.
It can be very hard to stand up for the truth. It's so very tempting to cave under pressure. We don't like being uncomfortable. We don't like standing out, being "different." It makes me sad that Thomas Nelson, one of the most well-known Christian publishers, has caved under pressure.
Now, I am
not saying Barton's latest book is on the same level as God's Word as a source for truth. It just makes me sad to see a dedicated believer being criticized for trying to debunk myths and lies that our education system has led our nation to believe about Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers.
I am no historian (although I do love history...and books), but I have a hard time believing that Deists would frame an entire country's foundation on Biblical principles and standards. I have a hard time believing that Deists would implement prayer before each session of Congress and establish a position for a Congressional chaplain. I have a hard time believing that Deists would have financially supported efforts to evangelize the Native American Indian tribes. It disturbs me that Baron is taking so much flak for his desire to set the record straight about Jefferson in his latest book via original documents, eyewitness accounts, and official records (infringement of free speech aside).
Again, I'm
not saying Barton - or any other man for that matter - is on par with God as a reliable source for truth. My point is, we tend to reject any truth that isn't "convenient" and/or doesn't fit with our ideas or perspective(s).
In the Gospel of John, Jesus said:
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. {John 8:32}
Truth is a God-given source of freedom. America's Founding Fathers created the
entire foundation of America on God's truth revealed through His Word.
But ... you can't
live by the truth if you
don't know the truth. That requires digging deep, using original sources in context - in our case, the Bible (in Barton's case, original writings, eyewitness accounts and official documents).
Seek to learn and know the truth by becoming a student of God's Word. Remember:
you can't live by the truth if you don't know the truth.
"The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible."
Patrick Henry
General in the American Revolution; Legislator; Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Governor of Virginia
"Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. . . . What a Eutopia [sic] – what a Paradise would this region be!"
John Adams
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; One of the Two Signers of the Bill of Rights; Second President of the United States
"I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as satisfied that it is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament."
Benjamin Rush
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Surgeon General of the Continental Army; Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Treasurer of the U.S. Mint
"In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity."
John Quincy Adams
Sixth President of the United States; Secretary of State; U.S. Senator; U.S. Representative
"The great, vital, and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Congress, 1854
"[T]he only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible."
Benjamin Rush
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Surgeon General of the Continental Army; Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Treasurer of the U.S. Mint
"Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped. [sic]"
Benjamin Franklin
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Signer of the U.S. Constitution; Governor of Pennsylvania
"Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle... In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity... That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants."
Congress, U. S. House Judiciary Committee, 1854
"[Governments] could not give the rights essential to happiness… We claim them from a higher source: from the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth."
John Dickinson
Signer of the Constitution; Governor of Pennsylvania; Governor of Delaware; General in the American Revolution
"Righteousness alone can exalt America as a nation. Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others."
Patrick Henry
General in the American Revolution; Legislator; Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Governor of Virginia
"It becomes a people publicly to acknowledge the over-ruling hand of Divine Providence and their dependence upon the Supreme Being as their Creator and Merciful Preserver . . . and with becoming humility and sincere repentance to supplicate the pardon that we may obtain forgiveness through the merits and mediation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Samuel Huntington
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; President of Congress; Governor of Connecticut
"[P]ublic utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. Without the Bible, in vain do we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions."
James McHenry
Officer in the Revolutionary War; Signer and Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Secretary of War
"By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects… It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published."
Benjamin Rush
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Surgeon General of the Continental Army; Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Treasurer of the U.S. Mint
"You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are."
George Washington
Member of the Continental Congress; Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army; President of the Constitutional Convention; First President of the United States
"This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins."
Benjamin Franklin
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Signer of the U.S. Constitution; Governor of Pennsylvania
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event." Thomas Jefferson
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Governor of Virginia; Secretary of State; Third President of the United States
"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. ... Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us."
John Hanckock
First Signer of the Declaration of Independence; President of Congress; General in the Revolutionary War; Governor of Massachusetts
I recommend a general and public return of praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow.
John Jay
President of Congress; Author of the Federalist Papers; Original Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; Governor of New York
"[T]he greatest discoveries in science have been made by Christian philosophers and . . . there is the most knowledge in those countries where there is the most Christianity."
Benjamin Rush
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Surgeon General of the Continental Army; Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Treasurer of the U.S. Mint
The last month of Sophomore year rolled around, and I began dating a guy friend I had become close to over the course of the school year. We spent the next three and a half months cultivating a long-distance relationship. In hindsight, those three and a half months of long-distance dating gave him the perfect opportunity to portray himself in the best way possible instead of how he really, truly was as a person.
God is a God of truth.
