glenn beck – Page 9 – Warren Throckmorton

Why the Aitken Bible Story is So Important to Glenn Beck and David Barton

Reinventing the Aitken Bible story is very important to Glenn Beck and David Barton. America as a covenant nation is important for different reasons for both men and the myth of Congress printing the Bible fits right in to their world view. However, as has been shown many times, the story is not what they make it out to be.

In his recent talk to Fellowship Church, Glenn Beck began his false narrative about Aitken’s Bible by shouting, “Don’t let anybody tell you we are not a Christian nation because are absolutely a Christian nation!” Then he incorrectly told the audience that Congress printed the first English language Bible in America. He ended the story by repeating the assertion that the U.S. is a Christian nation.

In a recent talk to Osborne Baptist Church, David Barton again implied that Congress wanted the Aitken Bible used in schools. Watch:

Barton finished his story about Aitken by saying.

The first English Bible was done in 1782, its got Congressional endorsement and its done for the use of schools? I thought the Founding Fathers didn’t want the Bible in schools. See, if you don’t know your history, you put up with policies you should never put up with. When you know your history, you have a different view of what public policy should be.

The point for both Barton and Beck is to influence people to think about America’s founding as a foundation for public policy now. Barton wants the Bible in schools so he makes up a story where Congress printed/endorsed (he has told the story both ways) a Bible for the use of schools. If the men who wrote the Constitution wanted the Bible in schools then it has to be Constitutional for the Bible to be used in schools now.

If the story is told straight then it isn’t as useful. It certainly could support the idea that the founders were friendly toward religion, but it doesn’t say anything about federal policy toward Bible reading in schools. If the rest of the story is told, then it isn’t as useful either. Aitken wanted Congress to appoint him as the official Bible printer, but Congress declined. He wanted his Bible to be the authorized Bible for the new republic, but Congress declined. Furthermore, Congress didn’t put a nickel of tax payer funding into the project.

When listening to either Beck or Barton speak, be aware that the history lessons may not be completely true and that the real object is to persuade you to believe something that isn’t true so you will do something you might not otherwise do.

Glenn Beck, Raoul Wallenberg, and the Mysterious Russian Soldier: Embellishing an Already Great Story

Glenn Beck used a lot of artifacts to tell his stories during his July 5, 2015 talk at Fellowship Church in the Fort Worth are. Previously, I have commented on his false account of the Aitken Bible story and his theological statement that America is a covenant nation. Today, I want to comment on his story about Raoul Wallenberg. First, listen to what Glenn Beck said about Wallenberg.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/aeX_-Vwid_8[/youtube]
Transcript:

This is a document from Raoul Wallenberg. Raoul Wallenberg is one of my heroes. He was a Swedish emissary at the embassy during the 2^nd World War and he tried to stand up for the Jews. This is a passport.
His King told him, ‘don’t do this, we have enough trouble, please don’t do this, we have enough trouble.’ But he was in Budapest and he saw what was happening to the Jews and he stood up.
And he would go to the train cars where they had taken all the Jews and he would take these, a handful of them and stuff them between the slats of the train while standing on top of the train and then he’d finally give them in and say everybody take one of these, quickly take one, and he would say, ‘Stop! Stop the train! You have the wrong people, you have my citizens in there! He saved thousands.
This is one of the last ones that he wrote, the woman he wrote it for begged him to leave; he wouldn’t. He said, ‘the Russians couldn’t be as bad as the Germans, and the Russians were right around the corner. He was last seen running into the arms of the Russian military. This is a cigarette case that was carried by one of those soldiers that he ran into the arms of. One of the first troops that came in. Wallenberg ran up to them and begged them for help, ‘help, help me save the Jews, help me save, stop this insanity. What’s on this cigarette case in Russian is carved, ‘Let’s kill all of the Jews and go home.’
Anti-semitism, hatred, racism is a human disease. We must look for the answers outside of the human race. We must look for the answers in God and Jesus Christ.

This story didn’t sound quite right. The part about Wallenberg saving Jews is right but the cigarette case component seemed like an embellishment. How would anyone know that about the cigarette case? Wallenberg disappeared after the liberation of Budapest and was never seen as a free man in public. He left behind no written accounts.
Curious about it, I contacted the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States. Diane Blake is Director of Research and former Vice Chairman of The Raoul Wallenberg Committee. She graciously agreed to watch and evaluate Beck’s clip. Her initial assessment is as follows:

I have never heard anything about a Russian soldier with a hateful cigarette case. I doubt that it is true. I do know that Raoul had the support of the Swedish king and Swedish government when he went to Budapest. When the United States formed the War Refugee Board, they were looking for a Christian from a neutral country to go to Budapest and try to save the last intact Jewish community in Europe. They approached Sweden and Sweden agreed and Raoul was chosen.
Raoul certainly did not give himself up to Russian soldiers, pleading for help for the Jews. Raoul got into the car with two Russian soldiers because he had an appointment with Marshal Malinovsky in Debrecen to discuss the next steps for Hungary, i.e., the search for missing persons and the reuniting of families, emergency food distribution, help with housing, etc.

Blake’s assessment of the Swedish king agrees the sources I can find on the subject. If Beck has a source where Gustav V actually spoke to Wallenberg and asked him not to go to Budapest, I would like to see it. King Gustav actually intervened with the Hungarian regime to stop the deportation of Hungarian Jews to death camps. The Swedes were already involved in trying to save Jews in Hungary before Wallenberg was selected for his mission. Beck’s comment about the Swedish king certainly seems like an unnecessary embellishment.
Beck’s story of the cigarette case doesn’t add anything substantial to the story except it gave him an opportunity to show off another collector’s item. According to Blake, Wallenberg was taken into custody and never seen again.

On January 17, 1945, somewhere en route to Marshal Malinovsky’s headquarters, Raoul and his driver (Vilmos Langfelder) were handed over to the NKVD. By the first week of February, 1945, they were in separate cells in Moscow’s Lubianka Prison. Raoul was never seen as a free man again.

In fact, the Russians liberated Budapest and saved the remaining Jewish population. Wallenberg was suspected of being an American spy and for reasons that are not still not totally clear was never released.
Essentially, Beck had it right that Raoul Wallenberg helped save thousands of Jews. However, why embellish? Why over dramatize something that is already amazing?

Glenn Beck and David Barton: More Evidence Congress Did Not Print the Aitken Bible

Both Glenn Beck and David Barton have said in public presentations that Congress printed the first English Bible in America (Aitken Bible). Most recently, Beck told Fellowship Church in Fort Worth TX that the first thing Congress did after we won the war for independence was to print a Bible.
Barton has recently backed off slightly from that claim that Congress printed the Bible, acknowledging that Aitken printed it but still falsely portraying Congress as endorsing the Bible for use in schools (see video below). Barton’s evolution on the issue came after years of criticism from observers outside and inside the church. He finally shifted his story a bit after a Family Research Council vice-president deleted a video of Barton’s tour of the Capitol during which he told the false story. Watch Barton’s two stories:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/6K5ofr-VBvI[/youtube]
At 2:37 into the clip above, Barton appears on Glenn Beck’s show and told Beck that Congress printed the Aitken Bible. Beck apparently has not gotten the memo that Barton misled him because Beck spread that same false story on July 5 to the Fellowship Church.
Barton’s presentations still contain misinformation. In June, Barton spoke to the Osborne Baptist Church in North Carolina. There he again told an Aitken Bible story. Watch:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/93zX5xz7V_4[/youtube]
Barton Still Embellishes the Story
This clip may get a post of its own but for now, I want to demonstrate that Barton is still embellishing the story and making it say something it doesn’t. In this clip, Barton says Congress authorized Aitken’s Bible for the use of schools. As I have pointed out, the Congress didn’t mention schools; Aitken did. Aitken would have been happy to have schools use it, or Congress buy it for soldiers, or, as the ad below suggests, customers buy it in bulk. He invested a lot in his Bibles and wanted people to buy them.
In the clip above, Barton said:

Within months of the final battle at Yorktown, a plan is proposed to print the first English Bible in America.

As I pointed out on Tuesday, Aitken approached Congress with a petition dated January 21, 1781, nine months before Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. Barton wants to make the listener think we won the war and then Congress cooked up the idea to print Bibles. However, note how he tells the tale in the passive voice; he says vaguely “a plan is proposed.” Yes, a plan was proposed, but not by a legislator and not after the war ended. Aitken told Congress in January 1781 that he

hath begun and made considerable progress in a neat Edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools,

The plan was proposed by Aitken, not Congress, and the plan was proposed nine months before the end of the war by a man who had already “made considerable progress.” Note that it was Aitken who told Congress that his Bible could be used in schools. Congress said nothing in response about it and the Congressional commendation did not mention schools at all. Barton tries to fool his listeners by taking Aitken’s words and putting them in Congressional mouths. Note that the ad below doesn’t mention anything about schools.
The ad below along with other evidence I have presented help to put the embellishments of Beck and Barton into some perspective. Aitken approached Congress with a proposal for them to review his work, and authorize his Bible as the version approved by government. Congress declined to make Aitken the official Bible vendor, nor did Congress take action to make his Bible the authorized version. Even though Aitken appears to be a Christian believer, he also needed to make back his investment as the ad below demonstrates.
This ad is dated August 11, 1782. Even though he had no Congressional commendation at the time of this ad, he announced that he would begin selling them in October. Aitken did not submit his Bible to Congress until September 9, 1782 with the proclamation dated September 12. He wanted a commendation (who wouldn’t?) but he didn’t need it because the Bible was not a project of Congress.

The top part of ad above is the identifying information from Early American Imprints. The rest of it is a solicitation from Robert Aitken offering to sell his Bible individually or in bulk at a discount. Below is a sample page from the Bible.
Aitken Bible Sample Page At some point, I hope someone else will ask Beck and Barton why they mislead their audiences with this story. In his Osborne Baptist speech, he says why he does it (listen to Barton near the end of the clip). He wants public policy to change to be in line with his preferences that public school children learn the Bible. He apparently thinks that twisting the Aitken Bible story helps his cause. As I have asserted before, I believe this deception is scandalous. It is a major story which is being mostly ignored by the Christian media and Christian leaders while Beck and Barton laugh all the way to the bank.

Message to Glenn Beck and Fellowship Church: Congress Didn't Print the Aitken Bible

In addition to faulty theology, there are several glaring historical errors in Glenn Beck’s talk to Fellowship Church on July 5. Sadly, the audience is less knowledgeable now than before he spoke. Here is one example.
Glenn Beck told Fellowship Church that the first thing Congress did after the United States won the Revolutionary War was to print a Bible in English. Watch:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/cBgkSUILZEw[/youtube]
Transcript:

Don’t let anybody tell you we are not a Christian nation because we absolutely are a Christian nation. This is one of seven Bibles, three or four of them are held by the Smithsonian. Three are in private hands; extraordinarily rare. It’s called the Aitken Bible. This was the first thing Congress did when they started. We couldn’t print the Bible. So when we first established ourselves and we won the war, the first act was to print the Aitken Bible. When it was given to George Washington, he wept, and he said, ‘finally, a gift that is meaningful enough to give to the men that served by my side.’ We are a Christian nation. And we need to start behaving like a Christian nation, with love and respect, and take the beam out of our own eye before looking at the speck in someone’s else’s. We’re losing memberships in our churches because, stop talking about the things that the Bible tells us to do. Let’s start doing them!

It is ironic that Beck tells the audience to start doing what the Bible says just after he consistently bore false witness about the Aitken Bible.
Let me take Beck’s claims bit by bit.

It’s called the Aitken Bible. This was the first thing Congress did when they started. We couldn’t print the Bible. So when we first established ourselves and we won the war, the first act was to print the Aitken Bible.

Beck was holding up a copy of what appeared to be the Aitken Bible. It is rare and valuable. It is also true that the British prohibited Bibles printed in America. However, nothing he said after that is true. Congress did not print the Bible and the involvement with Aitken’s project was not initiated by Congress. Furthermore, the timing of Aitken’s request and Congressional response do not match Beck’s passionate claim. It most certainly is not the first thing Congress did after the United States won the war for independence.
Robert Aitken petitioned Congress in a letter dated January 21, 1781. He wanted the approval of Congress for a Bible he was printing and he wanted to be the official Bible printer of the United States. You can read his petition here and here. I have it below as well.

To the Honourable The Congress of the United States of America

The Memorial of Robert Aitken of the City of Philadelphia Printer

Humbly Sheweth

That in every well regulated Government in Christendom The Sacred Books of the Old and New Testament, commonly called the Holy Bible, are printed and published under the Authority of the Sovereign Powers, in order to prevent the fatal confusion that would arise, and the alarming Injuries the Christian Faith might suffer from the spurious and erroneous Editions of Divine Revelation. That your Memorialist has no doubt but this work is an Object worthy the attention of the Congress of the United States of America, who will not neglect spiritual security, while they are virtuously contending for temporal blessings.

Under this persuasion, your Memorialist begs leave to inform your Honours That he hath begun and made considerable progress in a neat Edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools, But being cautious of suffering his copy of the Bible to Issue forth without the sanction of Congress, Humbly prays that your Honors would take this important matter into serious consideration & would be pleased to appoint one Member or Members of your Honourable Body to inspect his work so that the same may be published under the Authority of Congress. And further, your Memorialist prays, that he may be commissioned or otherwise appointed & Authorized to print and vend Editions of the Sacred Scriptures, in such manner and form as may best suit the wants and demands of the good people of these States, provided the same be in all things perfectly consonant to the Scriptures as heretofore Established and received amongst us, And as in Duty bound your Memorialist shall ever pray

Robt. Aitken Philadelphia. 21, Jany. 1781.

Aitken appeared to be under the impression that the United States might operate like Britain and regulate the authorized version of the Bible. He wanted his Bible to be the one approved by the government. In addition, he wanted Congressional awareness and approval because it had been illegal to do what he was doing under British rule. In fact, the war had not yet been won when Aitken began his work. He had already printed the New Testament but wanted to finish the job. “Being cautious of suffering his copy of the Bible to Issue forth without the sanction of Congress,” Aitken didn’t want to do anything which Congress might oppose.
Cornwallis surrendered to the American forces on October 19, 1781 so Aitken’s petition came prior to the end of the war, not first thing after we won. Congress appointed a committee to interact with Aitken as he progressed on his project. Aitken sent a copy of his Bible to Congress on September 9, 1782. The Congressional proclamation about the Bible was dated September 12, 1782. . The treaty of Paris formally ending the war did not come until September 3, 1783. The proclamation from Congress is below in the first paragraph:

There is nothing in this proclamation about Congress as Bible printer. Congress clearly recognized Aitken as the author and recommended his work for religious and artistic achievement. It was Aitken’s idea, his work, his investment, and eventually his loss. He didn’t make money on the project, and because Congress didn’t fund the project, he offered the Bibles to George Washington with the suggestion, made by a friend, that Washington ask Congress to purchase Bibles for the troops who had fought in the war.
Beck embellished the story more by involving Washington. Beck claimed:

When it was given to George Washington, he wept, and he said, ‘finally, a gift that is meaningful enough to give to the men that served by my side.’

There is no record that Washington wept when Aitken’s friend, John Rodgers, requested that Washington asked Congress to buy copies of the Bible for his troops. Washington declined politely saying that most of the troops had gone home and so he couldn’t make such a request. Washington’s return letter on the subject indicated that he would liked to have given the troops a Bible but not in the manner claimed by Beck. Here is what Washington replied to Aitken’s friend, Rev. Rodgers.

Your proposition concerning Mr. Aikin’s Bibles would have been particularly noted by me, had it been suggested in season, but the late Resolution of Congress for discharging part of the Army, taking off near two thirds of our numbers, it is now too late to make the attempt. It would have pleased me well, if Congress had been pleased to make such an important present to the brave fellows, who have done so much for the security of their Country’s rights and establishment.

Beck’s quote from Washington is quite a dramatic embellishment as is most of what he had to say to Fellowship Church. Beck’s story about Congress and the Aitken Bible is false; his citation about Washington is highly inflated and misleading. Most people listening would go away thinking that the first thing Congress did after winning the war for independence was to use public funds to print a Bible and give it to the American troops with the heartfelt approval of George Washington.
Beck’s key story used to support the claim that the U.S. is a Christian nation turns out to be a fabrication.
Beck has to know this. It has been pointed out publicly by numerous writers. Even if somehow he has avoided reading the many debunkings of this story, the alternative isn’t much better. He is either knows the story is a fiction or he is a very, very bad historian. Fellowship Church’s spokesman told Christian Post that Beck was “unmatched” in his knowledge of history. If that is so, then Beck misled Fellowship Church on July 5 with knowledge aforethought.
If Glenn Beck and Ed Young want to honor the passionate plea Beck made to Fellowship Church to stop talking about the things the Bible says to do and to start doing them, then they need to come clean to the congregation and set the facts straight.
For more on the Aitken Bible lie and the involvement of Washington, see this Huffington Post article by Chris Rodda.

Glenn Beck Tells Fellowship Church America is a Covenant Nation Like Israel

I told you Glenn Beck was going to teach theology at Fellowship Church and he wasted little time doing it. Watch (at about 4:00 into the full clip available on You Tube):
[youtube]https://youtu.be/MHXMZPgPxWs[/youtube]
Beck told the Baptists:

I have a lot of stuff and very little time. I wanna just kind of go through because its essential that we ask ourselves: who are we? Who are we? Because most people don’t know. And what keeps us going? Again, most people don’t know. We came here for a reason. We are a covenant nation. We are the only ones besides the original state of Israel that made the covenant with God.

The other day in response to Beck’s defense of Ed Young, I asked who is/was the American Moses. Beck says it was George Washington. Speaking of the first president, Beck said Washington was

Down on his knees after the first inaugural address, George Washington made a four hour covenant with the Lord. We are violating that covenant now. We are the ones that are blowing it.

Washington went to church for a service after the inauguration but I don’t think it lasted four hours.
This is classic Latter Day Saint teaching about both history and theology. We’re not in the Bible but America is in the Book of Mormon which is where that teaching comes from.
A couple of years ago, I noted that David Barton had endorsed a book which included this covenant teaching. Beck featured Tim Ballard on his show and raved about the book. Here is what Mormon Tim Ballard says about America as covenant nation.

One of our preeminent examples of one who possessed such innate conviction was George Washington. He declared the following in his first inaugural address as the first president of the United States. His message not only reflects his own understanding of the American Covenant, but that of those who came before him in discovering, settling, and founding the new nation.

[I]t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States.

Ballard, Timothy (2012-05-16). The Covenant: America’s Sacred and Immutable Connection to Ancient Israel (Kindle Locations 1074-1080). Legends Library. Kindle Edition.

Ballard doesn’t write about a four hour covenant but he adds:

Can there be any doubt that Washington possessed an understanding of the American Covenant and of his associated obligations to the people and to God? As he accepted the presidency, it seems as though he felt the weight of his responsibility within the context of that relationship.
Moments before this address, Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States. This “swearing in” ceremony makes the inaugural address even more significant, as it truly portrays our first president in his role as American Covenant-maker. For example, consider the words of the oath of office, which are found in Article II, Section I of the Constitution of the United States: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The profundity of that promise is revealed as we examine the true nature of the Constitution as national scripture. The Constitution (as will be detailed later) does nothing less than prescribe the formula for securing those American Covenant blessings of liberty, protection, and prosperity. It is but the modern political version of the ancient promise to Joseph found in Genesis 49. In swearing to uphold the Constitution, each president is committing himself and the nation to God and the American Covenant.
Ballard, Timothy (2012-05-16). The Covenant: America’s Sacred and Immutable Connection to Ancient Israel (Kindle Locations 1089-1100). Legends Library. Kindle Edition.

Ballard believes that American colonists were Ephraimites and have a connection to Israel. Mormons have an extremely high regard for the Constitution and consider it divine.
Blogger P.J. Miller calls this heresy and explains it is also popular at the American Family Association. My good friends over at Christ and Pop Culture discuss the broader manifestation of Americanism and address the false teaching that it is.