A few weeks ago, popular Christian history writer David Barton presented his standard two-hour presentation at a church in my area. At the urging of colleague John Wilsey, who has written against the concept of Christian America that Barton advocates, I attended. I’m glad I went. As an historian, the problems with the story that Barton weaves have been obvious to me for quite some time. Yet, that evening, I gained clarity regarding why Barton’s narrative troubles me as an evangelical.
In several ways, Barton’s presentation surprised me. First, Barton was interesting and engaging. Second, although he played to the evangelical penchant towards anti-intellectualism, I did not find him arrogant. In fact, he came across as pleasant, not haughty. Third, he prominently featured African Americans as historical actors. He spent some time discussing important black patriots such as Peter Salem and Lemuel Haynes, rightly noting that Americans “have done a poor job with black history.”
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