Faith & the Founding with Tim Barton

For today’s podcast, we’re joined by author and historian Tim Barton, co-author of The American Story series and president of WallBuilders — a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and teaching America’s founding and religious history.

Tim and his father, David, have amassed an extraordinary collection of original American historical documents and artifacts.

Considering Tim’s extensive collection of firsthand accounts and artifacts from our founders, we thought all you history nerds (us included) would enjoy a conversation about America’s founding that challenges some of what we learned in school.

Christian nationalism is a spooky term thrown around by the news media these days, but what does it actually mean? Are Christians trying to establish a theocracy, outlaw other faiths, or simply see Christian values reflected in our government?

Tim argues that Christianity’s influence on America’s founding is undeniable and something we should continue to embrace today. While he stops short of defining America unequivocally as a Christian nation, he makes the case that adhering to biblical principles is essential to our nation’s freedom and prosperity.

We also dive into some of the most common arguments against the claim that America is a Christian nation.

Tim argues that there’s a difference between a colony that calls itself Christian and one that actually governs according to biblical principles. He illustrates this by contrasting Jamestown and Plymouth.

Both were founded as religious colonies, but Jamestown operated under a state-established church, while the Pilgrims of Plymouth sought to apply biblical principles to their government and society.

That distinction extended into the broader religious culture of early New England. As early as 1641, the neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted laws restricting slavery and making the kidnapping of people for enslavement a capital offense — remarkably early restrictions for the time.

Massachusetts would later effectively abolish slavery in 1783, 82 years before slavery ended in Virginia.

Tim also points to the Great Awakenings — periods of widespread Christian revival that inspired Americans to bring their lives and society more in line with biblical teachings. He argues that these movements helped shape some of the most consequential moments in American history, from the Revolution to the abolition of slavery.