Scholars call Jefferson a skeptic as David Barton finds a new publisher for his controversial book | Thomas Kidd
The controversy over David Barton's The Jefferson Lies (see "The David Barton Controversy," Aug. 25) led Thomas Nelson to stop publishing the book-but Glenn Beck's Mercury Ink plans to publish a new edition.
Beck wrote the foreword to The Jefferson Lies, and Mercury Ink's announced goal is to "publish and promote books and authors that Glenn is passionate about." Mercury Ink partners with Simon & Schuster. Publishers Weekly reported that Barton in the new edition "will rephrase some things to remove any potential confusion."
Meanwhile, let's look at one of the key points in contention. Most historians prior to Barton described Thomas Jefferson as a life-long religious skeptic, but Barton writes in The Jefferson Lies that there "never was a time when [Jefferson] was anti-Jesus or when he rejected Christianity." Barton states that for much of Jefferson's adult life his faith was "nothing less than orthodox."
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