David Barton

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For the United States Senator from Missouri, see David Barton (Missouri politician).

David Barton (born 1954) is an American political commentator and evangelist. A self-described historian, Barton is the author of several books criticizing the separation of church and state, and an important figure of the religious right. He is noted for his controversial historical revisionism and serves as president of the Aledo, Texas-based historical revisionist group WallBuilders. Barton has appeared on numerous Christian radio and Christian television programs.

WallBuilders publishes and sells most of Barton's books and videos, which include Barton's claims that separation of church and state in the United States is not consistent with the views of the Founders.

Barton is controversial for having given speeches to Christian Identity in the '90s, although he now states that he did not know the organization was racist.

Barton's biography claims that he has carried out "exhaustive research (from original writings) on the Founding Era [that] has rendered him an expert in this field." Critics, such as Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, have written that Barton's many "quotes" that he claims are from James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and from U.S. Supreme Court decisions were apparently fabricated.[1] Barton has admitted he has not located primary sources for many of his quotes but maintains that this is not important to his central thesis because they are consistent with the views of the Founders.[2]

Critics also point to Barton's lack of academic credentials in history. Barton received a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious education from Oral Roberts University and was given an honorary Doctor of Letters from Pensacola Christian College but has no academic qualifications in history. [3] [4]

Barton taught math and science, but not history, for eight years at a Christian school that grew out of a church started by his parents. [5] In addition to his other political critics, Barton's credibility is questioned by some Christian commentators. [6] [7]

Historians dismiss Barton's work, with Derek Davis, director of the JM Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University, saying "He's not a trained historian. He can be very convincing to an uninitiated audience. He's intelligent. He's well-spoken. But a lot of what he presents is a distortion of the truth." [8] But Barton is widely respected among the Religious Right, with Sen. Sam Brownback praising Barton’s work for providing "the philosophical underpinning for a lot of the Republican effort in the country today -- bringing God back into the public square.” [9]

Barton is married and has three grown children, including a daughter who does minority outreach for the Texas Republican Party. [10]