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Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President
Over two centuries after he left the presidency, Thomas Jefferson continues to be the subject of competing claims about his public policy and his private beliefs.
In Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President, two religious conservatives examines key claims frequently made by other religious conservatives about Thomas Jefferson. Using Jefferson's correspondence, accounts of Jefferson's contemporaries, and other original sources, Throckmorton and Coulter separate fact from fiction. Upon analysis, many claims about Jefferson made by religiously conservative culture warriors don't hold up.
The authors examine the following questions and more.
-Did Jefferson sign his presidential documents, "In the year of our Lord Christ?"
-Did Jefferson and other Founders finance a Bible in 1798 to get the Word of God to America's Families?
-Did Jefferson found the Virginia Bible Society?
-Was Jefferson an orthodox Christian, who only rarely expressed questions about orthodox Christian doctrine?
-Did Jefferson approve laws providing federal funds to evangelize Indians?
-Did Jefferson edit the Gospels of the New Testament to remove sections he disagreed with?
The aim of the authors is to get Jefferson right.
In Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President, two religious conservatives examines key claims frequently made by other religious conservatives about Thomas Jefferson. Using Jefferson's correspondence, accounts of Jefferson's contemporaries, and other original sources, Throckmorton and Coulter separate fact from fiction. Upon analysis, many claims about Jefferson made by religiously conservative culture warriors don't hold up.
The authors examine the following questions and more.
-Did Jefferson sign his presidential documents, "In the year of our Lord Christ?"
-Did Jefferson and other Founders finance a Bible in 1798 to get the Word of God to America's Families?
-Did Jefferson found the Virginia Bible Society?
-Was Jefferson an orthodox Christian, who only rarely expressed questions about orthodox Christian doctrine?
-Did Jefferson approve laws providing federal funds to evangelize Indians?
-Did Jefferson edit the Gospels of the New Testament to remove sections he disagreed with?
The aim of the authors is to get Jefferson right.
149 pages, Nook
First published May 2, 2012
19 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 13, 2016
When I first read The Jefferson Lies, I rated it at four stars, but noted at the time that this was tentative. I wanted to read the other side of that controversy, which I have now done. In the overall exchange, I think that Throckmorton and Coulter got the best of it, but not entirely. I downgraded Barton's book to three stars, and give this book four stars. That said, I am much closer to Throckmorton and Coulter in their final assessment of Jefferson himself than I am with Barton. That said, Barton still says some things worth reading, particularly when it comes to how "secularism" has changed.
There are four things to say. I read Barton's book, read the Throckmorton/Coulter book, and then looked over Barton's intro to the paperback edition (in which he responds to Getting Jefferson Right), and that leads to my first point. Given that the subject of this controversy was Thomas Jefferson, it is beyond a shame that Barton's book was pulled from publication. It is clear to me that it required an answer, but it is not clear to me that it required policing.
Second, one of the things I appreciated greatly about Getting Jefferson Right is that they quoted a lot, and they quoted extensively. They successfully demonstrated at a number of points that Barton has a tendency to touch things up a bit -- not so much by what he says, as by what he leaves out. There were a number of places where a quote with an expanded context left quite a different impression than that same quote with the ellipses.
Third, at the same time, there were a number of points of dispute that were simply paradigm issues, or issues that depended on your knowledge of the broader context. For example, Barton cites Jefferson's role in some legislation concerning the Sabbath. Throckmorton and Coulter point out that the sabbatarian revisions that Jefferson supported were "much more lenient than prior laws on the Sabbath," but the two exceptions they point to in the laws were actually making the laws more confessional -- lenience was a by-product. And the central point that Barton was advancing, that Jefferson, paragon of secularism, supported sabbatarian laws, was a telling point. I believe that Barton successfully made the point that at a number of places a Jefferson policy would have been sued by the modern ACLU. And Throckmorton and Coulter successfully show that the cancer of unbelief was all through Jefferson's thought, and this means (in my book) that the folks at the ACLU are not wrong to recognize a kindred spirit in Jefferson. The genesis of the American apostasy was complicated.
I guess my fourth point is actually a reiteration of my first point. Having said this much, with a number of their criticisms, Barton was not left with mouth agape. He did have some intelligent rejoinders. This should have been the subject of a debate, not of blacklisting. And if the debate went anything like the books, I would have decided against Barton -- but against Barton the partisan historian, not Barton the clown.
There are four things to say. I read Barton's book, read the Throckmorton/Coulter book, and then looked over Barton's intro to the paperback edition (in which he responds to Getting Jefferson Right), and that leads to my first point. Given that the subject of this controversy was Thomas Jefferson, it is beyond a shame that Barton's book was pulled from publication. It is clear to me that it required an answer, but it is not clear to me that it required policing.
Second, one of the things I appreciated greatly about Getting Jefferson Right is that they quoted a lot, and they quoted extensively. They successfully demonstrated at a number of points that Barton has a tendency to touch things up a bit -- not so much by what he says, as by what he leaves out. There were a number of places where a quote with an expanded context left quite a different impression than that same quote with the ellipses.
Third, at the same time, there were a number of points of dispute that were simply paradigm issues, or issues that depended on your knowledge of the broader context. For example, Barton cites Jefferson's role in some legislation concerning the Sabbath. Throckmorton and Coulter point out that the sabbatarian revisions that Jefferson supported were "much more lenient than prior laws on the Sabbath," but the two exceptions they point to in the laws were actually making the laws more confessional -- lenience was a by-product. And the central point that Barton was advancing, that Jefferson, paragon of secularism, supported sabbatarian laws, was a telling point. I believe that Barton successfully made the point that at a number of places a Jefferson policy would have been sued by the modern ACLU. And Throckmorton and Coulter successfully show that the cancer of unbelief was all through Jefferson's thought, and this means (in my book) that the folks at the ACLU are not wrong to recognize a kindred spirit in Jefferson. The genesis of the American apostasy was complicated.
I guess my fourth point is actually a reiteration of my first point. Having said this much, with a number of their criticisms, Barton was not left with mouth agape. He did have some intelligent rejoinders. This should have been the subject of a debate, not of blacklisting. And if the debate went anything like the books, I would have decided against Barton -- but against Barton the partisan historian, not Barton the clown.
September 20, 2012
David Barton is a popular writer among Evangelical Americans and the Religious Right. Despite having no degrees in history, Barton often argues typical misinformation including the myths that the United States being founded as a "Christian Nation" without a separation of church & state. Barton's attempts to re-write history have met considerable criticism from Christian and non-Christian academics alike.
'Getting Jefferson Right' is an attempt by 2 Christian historians (Michael Coulter & Warren Thockmorton) to fact-check some of Barton's most outlandish claims in 'The Jefferson Lies' (Incidentally, 'The Jefferson Lies" has been pulled by its publisher since the lies and misinformation were so blatantly obvious). The authors of 'Getting Jefferson Right' state from the beginning that this book doesn't tackle all the misinformation in 'The Jefferson Lies,' but the claims they do fact-check should sufficiently cast doubt on many of his other claims. Thockmorton & Coulter touch upon several of Barton's claims regarding Jefferson's view of church-state separation (and his role in establishing it), his motivation behind editing/revising his own Bible, Jefferson's personal religious beliefs, his actions/intentions in regards to establishing & running the University of Virginia, and finally his attitudes & behaviors regarding slavery.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because I feel the authors successfully accomplish the goal they outlined early in the book.
'Getting Jefferson Right' is an attempt by 2 Christian historians (Michael Coulter & Warren Thockmorton) to fact-check some of Barton's most outlandish claims in 'The Jefferson Lies' (Incidentally, 'The Jefferson Lies" has been pulled by its publisher since the lies and misinformation were so blatantly obvious). The authors of 'Getting Jefferson Right' state from the beginning that this book doesn't tackle all the misinformation in 'The Jefferson Lies,' but the claims they do fact-check should sufficiently cast doubt on many of his other claims. Thockmorton & Coulter touch upon several of Barton's claims regarding Jefferson's view of church-state separation (and his role in establishing it), his motivation behind editing/revising his own Bible, Jefferson's personal religious beliefs, his actions/intentions in regards to establishing & running the University of Virginia, and finally his attitudes & behaviors regarding slavery.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because I feel the authors successfully accomplish the goal they outlined early in the book.
January 31, 2019
While there are other books that debunk the lies of David Barton, most of them are written by people who just hate the guy. Bias is a problem there. This book was written by authors who are not only highly respected scholars, but are also devout Christians. Bias is much less a problem here. If you find yourself drawn to Barton's shenanigans, read this book. You will find the debunking straightforward, well documented and respectful (as far as Barton can be respected). Oh, and, yeah - I hate that lying liar.
June 19, 2022
Weak.
One would think if he had so many great claims to debunk The Jefferson Lies, it would not be in suggesting new hypothesis that seem as equally, if not more, unsubstantiated. But the beautiful thing about time is it reveals how poorly this book was written in response to a man who is known for his large collection of original source documents and commitment to using said source documents to tell the history of our country. Sad I wasted three dollars on this book. Do you read this book is to see right through to this man’s agenda, his own revisionist is tale.
One would think if he had so many great claims to debunk The Jefferson Lies, it would not be in suggesting new hypothesis that seem as equally, if not more, unsubstantiated. But the beautiful thing about time is it reveals how poorly this book was written in response to a man who is known for his large collection of original source documents and commitment to using said source documents to tell the history of our country. Sad I wasted three dollars on this book. Do you read this book is to see right through to this man’s agenda, his own revisionist is tale.
February 23, 2017
Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter provide a textbook example of debunking historical claims (in this case, David Barton's The Jefferson Lies) through research and clear writing. Through an FAQ format, and with extensive quotations from Jefferson, the man's evolving but largely Unitarian, anti-clerical belief system -- denying the divinity and miracles of Jesus while celebrating his moral philosophy -- become undeniable, and making him out to be an evangelical Christian (who, perhaps, late in life fell away) becomes untenable.
Throckmorton and Coulter's arguments are not all necessarily beyond reproach, but their basic thesis (that Barton, by selective quotation out of context and misrepresentation of a variety of historical events, painted an image of Jefferson denied by the man's own words) stands the test quite well.
Throckmorton and Coulter's arguments are not all necessarily beyond reproach, but their basic thesis (that Barton, by selective quotation out of context and misrepresentation of a variety of historical events, painted an image of Jefferson denied by the man's own words) stands the test quite well.
August 17, 2012
Fascinating review of the actual literature and written material of Thomas Jefferson as a refutation to claims made by Barton in "The Jefferson Lies". Quite unbelievable the lengths Barton went to in order to "prove" his point that Jefferson should be held up as a champion of the far right ring Christian Conservative movement. Jefferson had many strong points, but was also a flawed man who owned slaves. This book is more focused on finding actual proof of Jefferson's attitudes towards religion, separation of church and state, religious conversion of native Americans and his record on human rights in regards to the slave trade. The authors take on Barton's most flawed claims, and lay them bare.
September 21, 2012
Finally, a book that presents original sources in a complete and unedited way and explores Jefferson in the depth that other writers lack. It is not a scholarly work that slips into obscure, but presents its information clearly and concisely.
It puts to rest once and for all many of the questions surrounding Jefferson's personal faith, his views on religion and key Christian doctrines, some positions he took on education at the University of Virginia as well as his beliefs on slavery and relations with Native Americans.
The book is thoroughly researched, extensively footnoted and annotated. If you have questions about the material presented you can go read it for yourself. Which is how it should be.
Not for the intellectually closed-minded or the lazy scholar.
It puts to rest once and for all many of the questions surrounding Jefferson's personal faith, his views on religion and key Christian doctrines, some positions he took on education at the University of Virginia as well as his beliefs on slavery and relations with Native Americans.
The book is thoroughly researched, extensively footnoted and annotated. If you have questions about the material presented you can go read it for yourself. Which is how it should be.
Not for the intellectually closed-minded or the lazy scholar.
May 23, 2013
Backed up by extensive documentation, this book, written by two conservatives, is a spot-on takedown of notorious faux historian and liar David Barton, and anyone else who mis-characterizes Jefferson's words.
October 18, 2014
Want to know the truth about what Jefferson about Religion and Government. Well, read this book by two Professors from Cristian colleges destroy the the crap spewed by crack pot David Barton.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews