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The WallBuilders Show
Hamilton, Rumors, And The Record
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Rumors move fast; context moves truth. We kick off with a listener question about Alexander Hamilton and follow the paper trail from a single 1976 claim to the everyday realities of 18th‑century life. Sharing beds in crowded inns, the language of friendship in an older era, and the difference between primary sources and agenda-driven readings all change how the story lands. We also revisit the Reynolds affair, weighing Hamilton’s own pamphlet, the consensus of historians, and the role of James T. Callender, a serial scandalmonger who colored early American headlines.
From there, the conversation shifts to a different kind of context problem: how American Christianity drifted over the last century from making disciples to counting conversions. We talk about counting the cost, fruit as evidence, and the habits that actually form a follower of Jesus—Scripture, prayer, and community. This isn’t about earning salvation; it’s about living it. The fastest way to recognize God’s voice is to know God’s word, and the fastest way to hollow out faith is to reduce it to a formula. No wonder so many young adults are seeking catechesis, liturgy, and moral clarity—they’re tired of spiritual vagueness and want a faith that builds a sturdy life.
History and faith meet at the same crossroads: discipline over hype, evidence over rumor, formation over slogans. If you’ve wondered what Hamilton really wrote, why myths stick, or how the church can recover depth, this conversation brings receipts and practical next steps. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves history or cares about spiritual growth, and leave a review telling us the one idea you’ll put into action this week.
Rick Green [00:00:07] This is the intersection of faith and culture. It's the WallBuilders Show taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. And today's the day you get to pick the topics. So, send those into us radio@wallbuilders.com that's radio@wallbuilders.com. David Barton, Tim Barton and I'm Rick Green and we are going to fly through some questions today, get to as many as we can. If you're, you know, going to miss part of today's program, or you want to get to some more of these foundational questions, all of our programs available on our website at wallbuilders.show. You can also catch up on some Good News Fridays there and some of the interviews that we have as well. But without any further ado, let's get to your questions. Let's see, Violet Blackwell's got the first question from Colorado. Question is this, did Alexander Hamilton send inappropriate letters to men? I don't even know if I've ever heard this claim, guys. Did he cheat on his wife? Why do people say these things if they're not true? What info do we have on those subjects? Thank you, guys, so much. Violet, great question. I did not see this in the musical, or read it in the Federalist Papers. So, no, anyway, no I haven't, honestly, I don't, I am not aware of this claim. So go for it, guys.
David Barton [00:01:19] Thrilled to hear that you go to primary sources like the musical that's a really good place to go to get
Rick Green [00:01:24] Hey, you- you- You think that just because I got a country boy accent that I can't rap like Alexander Hamilton in the musical? I'm just, no.
David Barton [00:01:35] This, this one is a really fun one because it really shows, man, I can think of a lot of adjectives I could use here that are derogatory and the meaning that I would intentionally use. But in essence, it shows the stupidity of a lot of writers who write about history and don't have a clue what they're talking about. And as an example, I'm going to get back to the question with Hamilton. I'm gonna take Abraham Lincoln for a while. There was a period a couple of decades ago when people were saying, and this was when, when the LGBTQ movement was really kind of trying to gain ground and the gay rights movement was going and they said, Abraham Lincoln was homosexual because he slept with men. Abraham Lincoln, like other guys in his day, when he traveled on the circuit as an attorney and a judge, he would get a hotel room at night, except back then they didn't give you a room necessarily you would buy or rent a spot in a bed and the bed would have two or three people in it. And you would be one of two or three in the bed. And because he slept with other men, which by the way, soldiers did all the time in war, George Washington's guys did during the revolution, everything else, that didn't mean he had sexual relations.
Tim Barton [00:02:45] Let me clarify, when you say he slept with other men, we're talking about he went to sleep beside them.
Rick Green [00:02:51] I was wondering if you mean bumped up with other men. Yeah, wire what I don't even know what the right way to say That is good. I'll take it out of context
Tim Barton [00:02:58] Correct. The common vernacular has ruined trying to use the proper words for what this is, literally. Right. I mean, Dad, back to your point. This is something that at times, because we also enjoy watching movies, there are older movies and at times we'll watch and go, man, they did a really good job highlighting some of these portions. We've talked about before, like even the Patriot. The Patriot obviously takes a lot of Hollywood liberties, but Mel Gibson's character was based on a couple of real-life individuals. That they actually in the movie got some things tone-wise pretty correct and accurate. There are things we really enjoyed about it but so along those lines I'm saying this because there are actually old movies when people will go to like these old, kind of a Western or expansion kind of movies They go to the hotel and they're like I want a room by myself. Or why in the world will they clarify by themselves because it wasn't uncommon back in the day that if you showed up and at a hotel, they have right four rooms five rooms eight rooms whatever it is and they have 25 people wanting to stay there they might put three or four people in a room. Like that kind of stuff really did happen and so, today when people read that kind of stuff and they're like oh Abraham Lincoln slept with guys all the time well not the way you're suggesting he did. And Dad, as you point out even military like there's historic records of George Washington during some of the moments in the middle of the American Revolution where he actually would share his bunk, would share his bed with people or somebody would offer their bunk or their bed to him. This is part of how it worked and also not surprising that if it was a super cold night and you're in not a great shelter you're like hey scoot over here by me like body heat buddy heat let's not freeze tonight but the way people have taken this. And largely, not that homosexuality is like this brand-new notion and concept obviously, the reason the Bible condemns it is because sexual sin has been around basically since sin has entered the world. So, this is not a brand-new concept, but to suggest that when somebody has a certain letter or phrase, well, therefore, we know exactly what this means. Alexander Hamilton or Abraham Lincoln or George Washington, whoever they want to accuse ridiculously and incorrectly, they're going to say they were homosexual because they slept in a bed where other men were. Well, that's not what you are suggesting, what the sexual activity you're suggesting happened. That's not at all correct, but that certainly is one of the accusations.
David Barton [00:05:39] And so in the case of Alexander Hamilton, he has a letter where he wrote about enjoying the presence of another man. And so, this author in 1976 wrote about the fact that, oh, look at his language. Why he's certainly homosexual. Absolutely not. That was common language for the day. But if you've got a guy with an agenda like he had, he's gonna find things that he can make into evidence that are not. And so that's where that claim came from. A single book in 1976 without any historical sense of the time or the culture or other letters or anything else taken out of context to make that charge. And then there are those who either because they like titillating history or because they want to make America and the founders look bad. They repeat that. And that's where this came from with Alexander Hamilton. Now, second question is, did he have an affair? Did he cheat on his wife? And this one, there's some evidence for he actually, he published a piece saying he had an affair with Maria Reynolds. And we actually have that piece in the collection at Wall Builders, the original piece. And so, he talks about that, but there's a lot of historians that are not sure that affair actually happened.
Tim Barton [00:06:51] Well, and dad, I think it's worth clarifying. When we say a lot of historians, it's not the majority of historians. Right. Right. And this is, this is very important because the overwhelming historic consensus is yeah, it looks like Alexander Hamilton had an affair. And one of the things that we have long said about history in general is you should tell the good, the bad and the ugly. And if there are things that are clearly bad, you shouldn't be dishonest. And it's very similar to what we look at with like the Bible, the story of King David. If the only thing that a person in church knew about King David is he killed Goliath, we'd say, well, you don't really know the whole story of king David. But if the only you knew about King David was, he had an affair with Bathsheba and then had her husband Uriah, in essence, murdered and bumped off, we'd said, well that's not like the whole story of David, right? Like he also wrote the majority of the Psalms. He was known as a man of God's own heart. You can go down a very long list, but the reason all of this matters is because when you tell the whole story, you realize there's good and bad and ugly. And also, as a Christian, when our starting place is that there is none righteous, no, not one for all of sin and come sure the glory of God. Our expectation is that none of these guys were perfect and all of them needed a savior. Some of them, their imperfections were very evident and visible. And this from Alexander Hamilton. Has largely been agreed to be one of the very evident, visible failures of one of the noted founding fathers. Just like you look at, you know, Benjamin Franklin early in his life when he had an illegitimate child, there's a few examples you can point to, and I say few, that I think is the correct phrasing. There's not lots of examples where people oftentimes will cite one example and try to extrapolate and say all the founding fathers are guilty of XYZ behavior because one person engaged in something. And I'm saying all that to give caveat that I don't, I don't think the position largely historically supported to this point is that Alexander Hamilton didn't, but there certainly were some people that thought, you know what, this could have been a distraction tactic. But I say that also wanting to give a caveat that right now there's a lot of people debating whether or not we landed on the moon. And then there's people being like, you're crazy. I don't know why we're debating this. I think it's definitely more of a fringe position that Hamilton did to distract.
David Barton [00:09:14] A really significant question is where did this claim originate? Where did it come from in the first place? And the answer is it was written about by a guy named James T. Callender. And James T Callender is a notorious scandal monger. He's the guy that back in the early 1800s, he's the guy that claimed that Thomas Jefferson had six kids with Sally Hemings, which did not happen. He's the one who made all these moral claims about George Washington that were not true. And historians over the time have pointed out how wrong Callender is. And he's the that claimed that it was Hamilton who had this affair with Maria Reynolds. Now, Hamilton did write about that affair, but it came out in his financial report where he reported that he had this affair, which that's why some historians look at that and say, hey, he put it in the federal report as opposed to his private writings. So, you know, who knows, but. All of that to say, when it originates with a scandal monger like Callender, who's been proven wrong time after time. And when they're taking things were just because the language Hamilton used out of context, and they write this book that says that so, and part of the question was why, why would they do this kind of stuff? It's really easy. If you can make the founders to be really, really, really bad people, then it's the poison fruit theory. Man, these are the roots of the republic. And if they're really bad, the republic's really bad. And so, we need fundamental change and we need to shift everything. And this is the kind of stuff that progressives do to get you off of history. They release all this bad information so that you'll be willing to leave history and go in a brand-new direction with them, whether it be socialism or whatever it is. And so that's just one of the tactics that's used is to vilify traditional heroes. And Tim, as you pointed out, there's plenty of heroes that have flaws. So, I mean, we don't dodge that. We don't dodge. And I think Hamilton probably did have an affair. I mean that's, that makes sense because even late in life after he was shot in the duel, when he got with the two pastors, Mason and, and more, they write about the fact that he went back and made sure he had confessed all sins and had all things in the past taken care of, he lived about 24 hours after we shot and he wanted to go into eternity with everything cleared up. And just the fact that they talk about that kind of suggests to me that, yeah, he probably had some stuff back there that needed cleansing to get rid of. So, with all of that is still the point of this being to attack founding fathers and to demean the founding of America so that you move in a different direction. And that's why they do this kind of stuff.
Tim Barton [00:11:56] Or Dad, even to justify people's own personal behavior and prerogatives, right, where the LGBT community would say, Hey, no, no, they're some of us, right? So, what we do must be okay because Founding Fathers did it. And it is interesting, they only want to defend or, or draw from the Founding Fathers when they can justify some of their own sin or licentiousness. Not necessarily to learn some of the more fundamental moral truth, but to this point, right. This isn't just people demeaning the Founding Fathers, although that happens far too often. In this case, I think part of the argument was to justify some of the, the sexual behavior, sexual proclivities of certain segments of population, which of course Hamilton or the other founding fathers their lifestyle does not defend or exhibit that kind of sinful behavior.
Rick Green [00:12:50] Alright guys, quick break, we'll be right back. We've got more questions from the audience, send yours in to radio@wallbuilders.com. You're listening to The WallBuilders Show.
Rick Green [00:15:05] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us foundations freedom Thursday today next questions coming in from Dennis. Dennis asked about the shift the paradigm shift on the Bible. He said David you've referred on several occasions to a paradigm shift away from the Bible on a national level that took place about a hundred years ago. What was the cause of that paradigm shift?
David Barton [00:15:26] So, this goes back to, you know, last week we were playing some things that like one of the items I spoke about at the legislator’s conference. And part of that was how that really in the 1870s, the church changed its real, its whole paradigm toward someone becoming a Christian and what that meant and what was involved. And I think it really got to be kind of sloppy Christianity in that instead of doing what Jesus said in the Great Commission, go make disciples of all men. They got in the mentality of thinking, just go make converts of all man. So, if we can have you say the sinner's prayer, which became something pretty big in the early 1900s with Billy Sunday, an evangelist. If you'll just say this formula prayer, then you will now become a Christian. And it no longer reflects what Jesus said about counting the cost. And so, I really, I'm stuck on the thing of what he did, what Jesus did, and it was Luke 14. Where he said, if you don't count the cost, you can't be my disciple. How many people today acknowledge becoming Christians or say a prayer and think they're a Christian and have no clue what they're getting into? Becoming a follower of Jesus, you know what that's gonna do to the kind of entertainment you watch or don't watch or the kind language you use or don't use or the kinds of friends you hang out with or don't hang out, or what it means in commitment to studying the Bible or praying or even spiritual disciplines like fasting or anything, they don't have a clue what they're getting into. And they come to church and in 15 seconds they say a prayer and now I'm done and I am a Christian. And Jesus said, you can't be my disciple if you don't count the costs. Do you understand what it's going to take to be a follower of me? Do you know what you're gonna go through? And do you understand what you gonna have to conform your life to? That's the paradigm change that I think has gotten away from us and I think it's a real problem. And this is why you can look at a Nancy Pelosi and a Joe Biden. They say, I'm Christians. Why? Because you said a prayer. No, if you don't count the costs and produce the fruit, you're not a Christian regardless of what you say. And that's not me. That's Jesus. If you don't bring forth the fruit of the disciple, you are not a disciple. And so that's, that's really what we were talking about with that and that discussion. And I think the church has got to get away from this formula Christianity, where if you'll say these certain words, you are eternally safe, you there's no problem for you anymore. No, he judges by fruits, he doesn't judge by testimony, he judges fruits, and that's a big deal.
Tim Barton [00:17:57] Well, and dad, I think maybe even to clarify, it's not that we need to get away from formula Christianity is we need get to the right formula, right? Because there is a formula of discipleship, right, that there is things that we should be doing to your point where, and I understand, we have believers of all denominations kind of across that spectrum that we are friends with, that we work with, that listen to this program. And so pretty much any kind of position we take, if it goes up against doctrinal lines. It's going to offend somebody. Like we, we already know that, but what we would point out is what Jesus said that you judge a tree by the fruits. Jesus said that he's the vine with the branches that in him, we would bear much fruit, our fruit would remain. But every branch that did not bear fruit, he was going to cut off and throw into the fire and those were branches that were connected to him. And I'm not, again, I'm trying to trigger a bunch of doctrinal theological debates and discussions other than, Dad, to your point. I think one of the things that we have tried to do is we have tried to make the road to heaven the wide and smooth road and Jesus actually described that road differently, right? Narrow and difficult is the path and we've said no, let's make this as easy as possible and all you have to do, Ray Comfort, one of our friends, he has a book and a great teaching called Hell's best kept secret. Where he talks about one of the modern flaws is that we promote the gospel, Jesus, as this like life enhancement kind of thing for you, right? You're going to enjoy blessings and happier family and marriage and kids. And life is just better. That's why you need Jesus. And he's like, no, you need Jesus because God is a just God. We are immoral people. Heaven and hell are waiting. The only hope you have is through Jesus. But again, where his, his teaching goes into hell's best kept secret. It's, it's one of the things that we have, I think really missed in modern Christianity and to your point, we have made conversion the finish line of the race instead of going, wait a second, this should be the starting blocks. Right now, now that you are following Jesus, now you run with perseverance, the race that is set before you. Now old things pass away and all things become new, right? You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. You crucify the flesh; you walk in the spirit. There's a lot more to this. And this is not obviously saying that somebody has to earn their salvation. No, but when you start on a journey with the Lord, it should be a journey with the Lord and there's a discipleship process that happens where even the apostle Paul talked about the role of the church was to equip these saints for the work of the ministry. If all we are doing is making converts, we're not equipping the saints, which means the church is not doing their job because we're not making disciples. And that is where so much of the problem has happened. Now, Dad, I don’t mean to go a different direction than you were going, but I do think it's not that we shouldn't have a formula. It's that we should correct the formula from conversion to discipleship. Conversion right is, the starting blocks of the race and discipleship is the journey we are running with the Lord. What, what would your bigger picture thoughts or summary be? Do you, do you think we kind of encapsulated it or is there a different thought we should add to that?
David Barton [00:21:28] No, I think you caught it. Now I would say that I'm still somewhat opposed to the formula because the scripture does say, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And so that's not necessarily a formula because it could be individual, different from person to person. Not that the way to get to heaven is different from person-to-person, but there's things you're gonna have to deal with in your life that somebody else may not have to deal with in theirs, depending on what your proclivities and inclinations are.
Tim Barton [00:21:52] Totally. And I would only add that when Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commands. Well, that sounds pretty definitive, right? That's right. To your point, the apostle Paul does talk about in Corinthians that there can be believers with different conscience and some might have a weaker conscience than another and don't wound the conscience of a weaker brethren. And so, to your point, no doubt, there's an individual component to this and there's a level of subjectivity. That's a terrible word for this, but personal relationship with this. However, the vast majority of what we've been called to do, there is objective revealed truth in the Bible. And it's not that this is per se a formula, because ultimately, the reason Jesus came was to restore relationship with the Father, that there could be a relationship again. And I mean, Rick, obviously what you guys are doing right now, even in the midst of your year-long discipleship program, what you're at Patriot Academy, you're working with young people. When I was a youth pastor, one of the most common questions I got from my, my youth kids was how do I hear God's voice? How do I know what I should be doing? And the number one answer I gave them is largely cause I learned this idea from my dad and then my grandfather, who was also a pastor, was that you need to read God's word because God's Voice sounds surprisingly like His word. So, if you want to learn to hear God's voice, you need to read God's word, you know what God's Voice sounds like, where Jesus said that He's a good shepherd, his sheep know his voice, they won't turn aside to another. And I'm saying this again, that this is not about working out salvation, right? Although we're all supposed to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, but we don't earn salvation through our works, we're not earning salvation through our works. However, the Bible does say literally the verse after Ephesians 2, 8, 9 and verse 10. That we were saved for good works. God saved us on purpose for a reason, so we could do something in this life to make a difference, fulfilling His calling on our life. And part of how we discover what that is, is through His word. Rick, I'm curious with all the students you have and the things y'all are doing, obviously y’all are doing a lot of Word, you're doing a lotta discipleship. What are you hearing from the college students that you are working with, maybe in regard to some of this?
Rick Green [00:24:17] You know, it's interesting that you asked that question because just today we had Michelle Bachman in to talk to the students and we actually recorded some wall builders interviews that the listeners will get to hear over the next couple of weeks, but, after they were done with the, after we did the interviews and she just had a chance to talk with the kids, that was exactly where she went. What you just said, she, she basically, I mean, we talked world politics, everything, she came back to the only way you're going to be able to, to discern truth for what God wants for your life and what the right positions are on everything is to be saturated in God's word, to constantly be going to His word, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to be in tune by being in His word. And I think it was one of the best statements we've, I mean, we've said those kinds of things, but they got to hear it from somebody that ran for president, that was in Congress, did all this, it was really, really good and a great reminder. And I that's what they're hungry for. And I will, in our last minute, I wanna ask you guys this, do you think what we're talking about now is the reason for the significant growth of young people going to the Catholic Church or a Greek Orthodox or to some of these more high church type denominations where there's more structure and because they're hungry for more than just walking the aisle and not being discipled. They want that catechism, if you will.
David Barton [00:25:31] Yeah, I think Christianity in the last several years has gotten really sloppy. And I think people do long for structure and discipline and, and lines. And certainly, God's word lays that out, but we have not dealt with people as if there are those clear lines that you need to conform to. And I do think that is definitely part of it, Rick.
Tim Barton [00:25:51] Yeah. And then they're looking for structure, actually for clarity and structure off offers clarity for them. Telling them rights and wrongs. And you're right. I think that's why they're being drawn to certain denominations, or theological bents because they're. Looking for clarity. And when somebody says, here's the answer, it's clear. It's easy. It's right here. And it offers the structure. It gives comfort to them when they've grown up in a world with so little structure and so little clarity.
Rick Green [00:26:18] I close it out this way, Ben Shapiro said yesterday in his speech, that a country without borders is no country. And a movement without borders has no movement, conservatism and needs to recover its borders. It would fit what we're saying right here, your faith needs to have some structure and needs have that discipleship to show you how to how to live it out. Very very important. Good stuff today guys, so we only got two questions So we got a lot more to get to next week, but folks don't miss good news Friday tomorrow You've been listening to the WallBuilders Show.
