"In Jefferson’s Bible, Jesus was crucified, but did not rise."

[usregimechange]

“I am a Christian,” Jefferson wrote to a friend, “in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others, ascribing to himself every human excellence, and believing he never claimed any other.”

Read that sentence carefully, since it is often taken out of context. By “Christian” Jefferson means that he believes in the teachings, the “doctrines” of Jesus. Jefferson stated that these “moral doctrines...were more pure and perfect than those of the most correct of the philosophers.” But Jefferson considered the Bible to be a deeply flawed document, “fragments only” of the teachings of Jesus that were “mutilated, misstated, and often unintelligible” due to the mistakes of the apostles, who he described as “unlettered and ignorant men.” One of Jefferson’s last literary projects was to edit the Bible in accordance to his Deist beliefs. He did this by removing the sayings of Jesus with which he disagreed, and deleting all references to miracles or the divinity of Jesus. In Jefferson’s Bible, Jesus was crucified, but did not rise.

From:

Cebula, L. (2002). Wide-spread myth: U. S. Christian nation. Retrieved July 16, 2002 on the World Wide Web. http://www.mssc.edu/chart/archives_050302_cebulaopinion.htm

[xchrom]

1. jefferson was a complicated man -- an incredibly well read educated man.

i would hesitate to pin ANY specific belief to him.

[Adsos Letter]

2. Quite correct....

Jefferson rejected anything in the Bible that did not conform to the rational in nature...in other words, miracles.

Excellent book about Jefferson in this respect: "Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson" (Library of Religious Biography Series) by Edwin S. Gaustad.

http://www.amazon.com/Sworn-Altar-God-Religious-Biography/dp/0802801560/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228625198&sr=1-1

[usregimechange]

5. Humm, may have to purchase that book, thanks.

[ananda]

3. I'm very impressed.

Wow. What else did Verne write?

Around the World in Eighty Days?

Fantastic Voyage?

Those sound good.

I'm reading Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle right now.
It's light, funny, and easy to read.. but it
deals with very difficult and thought provoking
subjects such as family relationships, nuclear
bombs, and the nature of religion.

Take care,
Sue

[Adsos Letter]

4. ?

:shrug:

[elocs]

6. Once upon a time I did have an old copy of the Jefferson Bible.

I thought it was more his rewriting of how he viewed the New Testament.