David Barton, the popular conservative historian, who we have previously written about here, recently appeared on Jim Bakker’s doomsday prophecy show and survival supplies infomercial to sell his new Bible.
Barton perhaps reached the apex of his career last weekend, when he appeared on the Ben Shapiro weekend edition (I listened to the episode, I thought it was excellent). Dramatically, Barton seems to have reached the low-point of his career not long after, appearing on a sales program of perhaps the most infamous false prophet, huckster, conman, and scumball on the planet, Jim Bakker.
Ben Shapiro is a Christ-denier, but you’re more likely to see him in Heaven than you are the convicted felon and vomit-lapping dog, Jim Bakker. I’ve also been to Bakker’s studio but used my time there to tell him to repent for scaring old people with false prophecies about the end times.
Barton, who has an impressive collection of early American artifacts and can wax eloquently on American and colonial history, has his own credibility problems. As Seth Dunn pointed out in his article on Barton, Barton has no training in history and received a degree in religion from the radically-charismatic Oral Roberts University. His book, The Jefferson Lies, was so roundly rejected by historians for being shoddy work that it was pulled from publication by Thomas Nelson. He’s also made some factually untrue statements about himself, including his now-debunked story about having played basketball for OBU, which he told at Charis Bible College in 2015.
This isn’t the first time that Barton has appeared with total theological scoundrels, having also partnered with prosperity preacher, Kenneth Copeland and crazy-eyed charismatic prophet, Rick Joyner. Barton has also recently appeared with Mormon, Glenn Beck, which is fine enough so long as the topic is American history. However, Barton has gone so far as to imply that the LDS follower was a brother-in-Christ.
In between peddling survival supplies to freaked-out octogenarians, Bakker had Barton on to pitch his new Bible. You can watch the video below.
However, it’s in this clip that Barton jumps the shark and begins to interpret prophecies and visions of Morning Star Ministry charlatan, Rick Joyner. That’s right, apparently, dream interpretation is in Barton’s wheelhouse now. Skip to the 4-minute-mark if you want.
He also drops the name of Lance Wallnau, another charismatic prophet.
To atheists, agnostics, or religious “nones” who are reading this post, please understand that the names represented here, including Jim Bakker, Rick Joyner and Lance Wallnau, are the most radically insane mammon-worshippers and scoundrels on the planet. Rest assured that confessional Christians who take their faith seriously do not take seriously Jim Bakker, Rick Joyner, or Lance Wallnau.
After listening to Barton on Shapiro’s program, he seemed so reasonable. I began to wonder if maybe Seth Dunn’s articles about Barton have been too harsh. But these clips reveal that Dunn was right all along…David Barton is a kook.
That doesn’t necessarily impugn his contributions to historiography. But he’s still a kook.
[Editor’s Note: Contributed by JD Hall]
