John Fea, Chair of the History Department at Messiah College said: “Getting Jefferson Right” is an intellectual and historical take down of David Barton’s pseudo-history of Thomas Jefferson by two Christian professors who teach at a conservative Christian college… I have yet to read a more thorough refutation of Barton’s claims.”
This just in and it sounds very interesting:
Professors explore popular Christian claims about Thomas Jefferson
Will the Real Thomas Jefferson Please Stand Up?
In their new book out today, Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President, two Christian college professors analyze popular Christian claims made about Thomas Jefferson. Professors Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter use Jefferson’s correspondence, contemporaneous accounts, and other primary sources to fact check key claims made in such recent Christian works as Kirk Camerons’ documentary, Monumental, and David Barton’s new book, The Jefferson Lies .
“Unfortunately, there is often a wide gap between popular Christian speakers and writers and Christian social scientists on historical claims, particularly about early American history. Our book evaluates key claims about Thomas Jefferson and religion using primary sources, especially Jefferson’s own words. In short, reality is complicated and we expose many of these claims to be inaccurate or, at best, misleading,” said Warren Throckmorton.
Getting Jefferson Right assesses questions about the Jefferson Bible (e.g., did he make it to give to missionaries for use with Indians?), Jefferson’s view of church and state (e.g., did he sign his presidential documents, “In the year of our Lord Christ”), his religious views (e.g., did he merely question orthodoxy, or did he reject it?) and Jefferson’s purpose for the University of Virginia (e.g., did he found it as a transdenominational Christian college?). Many other claims are examined in detail with material and images from original sources, rarely encountered in works on Jefferson.
Grove City College professor Michael Coulter said “We think the first duty of a scholar, Christian or otherwise, is to get the facts right and in their proper context, and that is what we have sought to do in this work. This is a matter of scholarly integrity. Moreover, getting the facts right is more important than re-making an historical figure in our own image which we think some people do with Jefferson.”
John Fea, Chair of the History Department at Messiah College said, “Getting Jefferson Right* is an intellectual and historical take down of David Barton’s pseudo-history of Thomas Jefferson by two Christian professors who teach at a conservative Christian college… I have yet to read a more thorough refutation of Barton’s claims.”
Getting Jefferson Right is available on Amazon.com
Take the Jefferson Quiz.
For more information on the book, see Getting Jefferson Right.
Warren Throckmorton, PhD is Associate Professor of Psychology and Michael Coulter is Professor of Political Science, both at Grove City College (PA).
http://vimeo.com/39637421
David Barton’s main argument is a classic false dilemma:
“Did the Founding Fathers lay the foundation of our nation on Biblical principles and values or was the Constitution purposely written as a godless document that would forever separate government and religion?”
This is a type logical fallacy that presents a situation in which only two alternatives can be considered. Neither option is completely true. They create a false dichotomy.
The truth is that each of the Founding Fathers were influenced by their unique religious values. They did not share a single faith. Many of those personal beliefs differed greatly from the churches of Europe, which tended to support monarchies. Some of the Founding Fathers would have preferred the United States to have a king. Also, the Constitution is not a religious document. It was never intended to be one. It has provisions that prevent government from establishing a religion and applying religious tests for public office. The Constitution is “godless” in the same way that our traffic laws are godless.