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Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson & the Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

by Thomas Jefferson

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 1,282 ratings · 136 reviews

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) served his country in many capacities: President, Vice President to John Adams, Governor of Virginia and Secretary of State to George Washington. He is best revered for his writing of the Declaration of Indepenence. In his autobiograph he comments on the French Revolution and the Articals of Confederation. In the second book "The Jefferson Bibl ...more

Hardcover , 216 pages

Published June 1st 2007 by Frederick Ellis (first published 1819)

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Oct 19, 2011 Kenny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion

Though often claimed by anti-religionists as a Deist, Jefferson states flatly, referring to this cut-and-paste version of the New Testament: "It is a document in proof that I am a REAL CHRISTIAN, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus" (his emphasis).

But note the distinction: Jefferson calls himself a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, not a disciple of Jesus himself. This is a serious difference, as his discomfort with and his disbelief in the supernatural aspects of the story of ...more

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Nov 12, 2008 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone who wants a concise view of Jesus's ethical teachings.

This book is Thomas Jefferson's attempt to distill from the gospels the ethical teachings of Jesus. It presents Jesus
purely as a teacher; no chorus of angels marks his birth, he performs no miracles, and the book ends with his burial. The result is a short, 92 page volume that's easy to read in spite of being written in the same archaic style of English as the King James Bible.

The obvious audience for this book is atheists and agnostics who want a view of Jesus's teachings that's free of, as Je ...more

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Bob John: read the commentary by Jefferson (in the form of letters, etc) about his version of the Bible; he talks about how there are still things he does ...more
Dec 04, 2013 08:09AM

John Martindale Bob wrote: "John: read the commentary by Jefferson (in the form of letters, etc) about his version of the Bible; he talks about how there are still th ...more
Dec 04, 2013 02:06PM

May 19, 2011 Lee Harmon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"We must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus. There will be remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."

With this goal, Jefferson set about with razor in hand to extract the true words and actions of Jesus from the enveloping hype and miracle stories of the Gospels. Rejecting the virgin birth, the annunciation, and even the resurrection, Jefferson wanted to dig down to Jesus’ message of ...more

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Sep 01, 2010 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To thoroughly grasp the hubris, imagine it in modern day: a US president whose religious beliefs are widely regarded as insufficient and blasphemous towards Christian doctrine, deciding that he doesn't really care for the Bible as it's written--too many miracles, and that Paul character, he's gotta go--so he'll just take some scissors, snip out the good parts, and rearrange them into a better order. Clearly, Thomas Jefferson predated cable news networks. Apparently, the Jefferson Bible is now di To thoroughly grasp the hubris, imagine it in modern day: a US president whose religious beliefs are widely regarded as insufficient and blasphemous towards Christian doctrine, deciding that he doesn't really care for the Bible as it's written--too many miracles, and that Paul character, he's gotta go--so he'll just take some scissors, snip out the good parts, and rearrange them into a better order. Clearly, Thomas Jefferson predated cable news networks. Apparently, the Jefferson Bible is now distributed to members of the US Congress; I can't help but wonder how many of them have actually read it before lauding the Protestant religiosity of founding fathers. (The introductory matter in this edition claims that Jefferson's beliefs tended towards Unitarian, although it is published by the Unitarian church, and I'm having difficulty confirming anything more concrete than a "close alignment" with Unitarianism.)

Jefferson doesn't set out as many religious scholars do in an attempt to quarantine a historical Jesus from the embellishments of later generations' evangelizing competitiveness. If this were his goal I would expect a heavier reliance on the earlier gospels, especially Mark, but this isn't the case; basically, Jefferson snips out the miraculous and supernatural, leaving barebones biographical detail and the words attributed to Jesus himself, and rearranges things into an approximation of Chronological order (though several of the stories that appear in more than one gospel are separated by several pages). The translation is King James with almost no deviations, despite Jefferson using a side-by-side English/French/Greek/Latin edition. (Again, here a modern dedicated biblical historian would, I imagine, try to go back to the most original texts possible, though one can imagine the limitations of this in 19th century Virginia.)

One of the things that is both problematic and intensely lucky about Christianity, as opposed to more recent religions such as Islam, is that the details of Jesus's life and sayings were not recorded as they happened. We have, for example, a huge body of information via Hadiths and the Qu'ran about Muhammed that borders on TMI (a recent reading of Fatima Mernissi's The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam underscored this to me). Without too much information on the trivial details of Jesus's life, Christians are free to deviate from them rather than have every small dietary or sartorial choice be regarded as a religious pronouncement. This, at least, is consistent with the message of Jesus in the gospels. The downside, of course, is the resultant disagreement over resolving conflicts among spiritual texts written long after the fact.

The Jesus that is left after Jefferson's clippings is not unfamiliar, and perhaps more interesting for attracting followers through his Temple-reforming rabble rousing and philosophical questioning rather than miracle-performance. It worked well enough for Martin Luther, after all, I suppose. In the end, though, it probably gives more insight into Jefferson and his religious beliefs than it does into Christianity. ...more

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Sep 23, 2008 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a deist, Thomas Jefferson believed in God as the ultimate creator and believed Jesus to be the greatest moral teacher. This collection of writings confirms his staunch belief in reason over faith. Jefferson believed that the Bible was imperfect insofar as it contained the works of corrupt individuals who sought to use Christianity as a means to control people.

What amazes me the most is how little a role religion played in the election of Thomas Jefferson in both 1800 and 1804. People furious ...more

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May 24, 2009 Dean rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reference

Brilliant editing...when considered with his design for the University of Virginia grounds sheds light on TJ's careful consideration, no, critical inquiry into the spectrum of 18th c norms. Everything is in play with reason the blade that carves the irrelevant and nonsense from core truths. UVA is an architectural analog. Though it can be debated that it is less successful as a unified work because it is new, untested function from an old form (a core campus from a Roman temple and forum), it is ...more

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Jul 15, 2015 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014-reads , american-culture-government , presidential-studies , religious-studies , 2015-reads

Very interesting sidebar of American History. Jefferson, who was a questioner and often skeptic, believed the teachings of Jesus profound. As a founding father, he was not so obsessed with his own salvation later, but in acting rightly in practice in the present. The forward and introduction, do a lot to enlighten the reader on Jefferson's own viewpoints on religion and freedoms surrounding practice and purpose. As far as the Bible that Jefferson presents goes: it is abridged version of the New ...more

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May 25, 2012 Bart Breen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Says a Lot about Jefferson!

Jefferson's Bible is an important work both for what it shows of a pivotal Founding Father and lynch-pin president, and what it doesn't show. Jefferson was neither the passionate Christian that some try to paint him as, nor was he the foaming at the mouth Deist that others attempt to paint him as. Jefferson was earlier in his life leaning more toward Deism and toward the end of his life best described as a Unitarian in the sense that the word was used in that day. In a Says a Lot about Jefferson!

Jefferson's Bible is an important work both for what it shows of a pivotal Founding Father and lynch-pin president, and what it doesn't show. Jefferson was neither the passionate Christian that some try to paint him as, nor was he the foaming at the mouth Deist that others attempt to paint him as. Jefferson was earlier in his life leaning more toward Deism and toward the end of his life best described as a Unitarian in the sense that the word was used in that day. In an effort to paint their positions, camps from both sides fail to account for the fact that Jefferson was human and his journey through life developed his thinking in these areas and he showed progression and modification of his positions as learning and experience tempered them.

Jefferson clearly rejected Trinitarian theology and believed the gospel narratives to be tarnished with later redaction by the early Church. His "Bible" as such was an attempt to cull out those redactions and isolate those words and teachings of Christ that reflect the moral code of Jesus Christ that Jefferson held to be the highest such teaching known to man. He was in effect trying to identify that theoretical "Q document" that Biblical Scholars from Jefferson's day until now believe existed which had only the words of Christ as he spoke them recorded.

Jefferson's Bible demonstrates both Jefferson's judgement as to what true Christianity (by his definition) entailed, and also what was baggage and needed to be removed. Jefferson revered Christ's moral code and teachings, even as he rejected his deity. This is eminently clear in Jefferson's writings, especially in his lengthy, latter year correspondence with John Adams.

Those who try and demonstrate Jefferson as to one side or the other demonstrate their own bias and need for Jefferson to be cast into their own camp.

Don't make the same mistake. Read the text at face value and determine what it says to you about Jefferson. Then, if you want, wade into the swamp of what others want to tell you it says about Jefferson and his view of our nation. You'll be equipped to reject either extreme and let Jefferson speak for himself.

Those who feel the need to cast stones at it for some felt need to protect the Bible miss the point. This is not about the Bible. The Bible has stood for centuries before Jefferson and will stand long after Jefferson is forgotten. It's about what Jefferson thought, and what he believed and should be read first and foremost from that position. ...more

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Dec 27, 2012 John Martindale rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion , history

Well, first off, this is the "Life and morals of Jesus of Nazareth" its not the "Jefferson bible," Jefferson would have been horrified if he learned someone took a book where he compiled the moral philosophy of Jesus and called it his bible. I have heard that according to the original preface, it was suppose to be for the native Indians, though there is no evidence of it reaching them, we have no right to create a new motive for Jefferson.

Next, Jefferson cutting from a bible and pasting in anoth Well, first off, this is the "Life and morals of Jesus of Nazareth" its not the "Jefferson bible," Jefferson would have been horrified if he learned someone took a book where he compiled the moral philosophy of Jesus and called it his bible. I have heard that according to the original preface, it was suppose to be for the native Indians, though there is no evidence of it reaching them, we have no right to create a new motive for Jefferson.

Next, Jefferson cutting from a bible and pasting in another book, is no reason for the delight and glee from secularist and horror from Christians. Think about it, Jefferson didn't have a computer where he could copy and paste the moral philosophy of Christ from the bible into a book, so he did exactly what I would do if I had several bibles. I personally once cut verses from a bible to paste in a painting, I suppose 200 years from now, someone will find the painting and think I was some anti-Christian, irreligious, bible hating deist, because I applied my scissors to the Holy Bible!

Now as far as the content, so many of reviews just focus and delight on what is LEFT out and yet don't feel any discomfort about what is there. Though it is obvious that Jefferson didn't allow any of Jesus' miracles to be recorded and he didn't include the resurrection of Christ at the end, it is still rather interesting what he did leave in the so called "Jefferson bible." There is much more then moral teachings here.

So yeah, for a so called "Secular humanist" among many atheist and a Deist among "Christians," how do they make sense of all Jefferson left in? For I suppose they must assume that Jefferson cut out all the supernatural crap he disagreed with, and what is left in the Jefferson bible is the "Diamonds from the dung hill". The way some reviewers are acting, I suppose we can say what Jefferson left in the Jefferson Bible, he approved of? So what are these diamonds salvaged from the dung hill?

I just read the it and inside the "Jefferson bible" we find many examples of heaven, the fires of hell and both devils and angels. Also, most of Jesus' mentions of the second coming, the final Judgment, the Kingdom of God, salvation, Jesus' mighty works and that Jesus is the Son of God are all here! Jesus affirms the resurrection, Noah and the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. Most importantly almost every reference to prayer from Jesus is in the "Jefferson bible", even God giving the Holy Spirit to all who ask. We also find fulfilled prophesy; Jesus prophesies Peter will deny him 3 times before the cock crows and later we read of this happening. So yeah, there is a lot more, I could make this into an extremely long review and just post example after example directly from the eBook, of all that shouldn't have survived Jefferson's scissors and bible blotter!

so yeah for a so called Deist, it sure seems odd he didn't clip out all mentions of prayer, God's activity on the earth, as well as prophesy, the second coming, angels and demons and the Holy Spirit and Jesus being the actual Son of God, the Christ and the King whose Kingdom is not of this earth. It would be nice to find some explanation for all Jefferson left in there, if he really was creating for himself his own bible without the supernatural. Is not the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, prophesy and salvation supernatural? Oh Hitchen's and Dawkin's, how did all this nonsense make it into this book from your secular saint?

O.K with all of that aside, i must say i really enjoyed "The Life and morals of Jesus." As far as Jesus' life, its extremely brief, the book is primarily the read letters of the bible, Jesus' teachings all put together seamlessly. I am glad Jefferson did this, it was a pleasure to read Jesus' teachings without the constant interruptions of miracles. ...more

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Feb 19, 2012 David Crumm rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finally, Smithsonian Offers Jefferson Bible for General Readers

If you’re choosing an edition of the so-called Jefferson Bible, my strong recommendation is: Snap up a copy of this gorgeous Smithsonian facsimile of Jefferson’s original work, which he created by hand with his razor and pot of glue.

Nationwide studies show that most American households own a Bible, most Americans claim they read the Bible regularly, and regular Bible readers own multiple editions. Many Americans preach, teach and sh Finally, Smithsonian Offers Jefferson Bible for General Readers

If you’re choosing an edition of the so-called Jefferson Bible, my strong recommendation is: Snap up a copy of this gorgeous Smithsonian facsimile of Jefferson’s original work, which he created by hand with his razor and pot of glue.

Nationwide studies show that most American households own a Bible, most Americans claim they read the Bible regularly, and regular Bible readers own multiple editions. Many Americans preach, teach and share in small groups that include Bible study. This is the first time in two centuries that a reasonably priced facsimile of Jefferson’s Bible is available for general readers. This gorgeous Smithsonian edition is likely to go out of print and, perhaps, become a collector’s item. From a practical standpoint, imagine the spirited discussions you can spark in your class or small group by passing around a copy. Buy it now, while this edition is still available.

What is in Jefferson’s Bible? First of all, Jefferson never called it “The Jefferson Bible,” although that is now such a widely used title that even the Smithsonian edition uses that phrase as the main title for the new color facsimile. Jefferson’s own original title appears as the sub-title of the Smithsonian edition. However, his original intention is captured in that first title: Jefferson only included the life and teachings of Jesus using verses from the Gospels.

How did Jefferson produce his Bible? Equipped with a razor and glue, the Smithsonian says: “At seventy-seven years of age, Thomas Jefferson constructed his book by cutting excerpts from six printed volumes published in English, French, Latin, and Greek of the Gospels of the New Testament. He arranged them to tell a chronological and edited story of Jesus’s life, parables, and moral teaching. Left behind in the source material were those elements that he could not support through reason or that he believed were later embellishments, such as the miracles and the Resurrection.

“The act of cutting and rearranging passages from the New Testament to create something fresh was an ambitious, even audacious initiative, but not an act of disrespect. Through this distillation Jefferson sought to clarify Jesus’s teachings, which he believed provided ‘the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.’”

A second recommendation, if you’re a Bible collector or Bible-study teacher: You also should snap up Tarcher’s new release of the now-classic 1940 edition of The Jefferson Bible.
...more

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Mar 03, 2010 Todd rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical , political , philosophy

This is the way the Bible is supposed to be. Thomas Jefferson, founding father and President of the USA has cut away all the supernatural BS behind Jesus Christ and his life time. Dug hard into various Bibles of the times and manages to find the wisdom of a progressive Jewish rebel. This Jesus was killed for believing in treating people equally and finding the best of human nature.

The supernatural birth and other mystical events of Jesus' life have been removed and instead readers will discover This is the way the Bible is supposed to be. Thomas Jefferson, founding father and President of the USA has cut away all the supernatural BS behind Jesus Christ and his life time. Dug hard into various Bibles of the times and manages to find the wisdom of a progressive Jewish rebel. This Jesus was killed for believing in treating people equally and finding the best of human nature.

The supernatural birth and other mystical events of Jesus' life have been removed and instead readers will discover a new vision in the man called Jesus, with all the mystical mumbo-jumbo that the church has added to him to make him seem like a divine being.

Instead we see a person who even during his childhood questioned his family and leaders with critical reasoning skills that were probably self-taught. Jesus learned that they were manipulating the public for their own personal gain over the betterment of all. He hung out with criminals, whores and the lowest end of the public, treated them with compassion and became an accidental leader to them.

His martyrdom was then justified by the church to make him divine much like the ancient demi-gods like Hercules, Peresus, and other Greek/Roman heroes that inspired the people. His "divinity" has been cut by Jefferson's own hand and instead we see through the church's deception and lies to keep the public in control and instead see that Jesus was a rebel with a cause to help to better not only his fellow Jews but all people everywhere. The pseudo-mystical nature of his birth to the documentation of his supposed resurrection have been cut away and we still see a good leader who inspired people to help people.

Unlike the many Christians today who turn their backs on their own fellow human being in the name of Christ and don't bother to lend a helping hand as Jesus did. Jefferson took the true teachings of Jesus the man and rebel leader to heart. Those teaching helped America throw off the shackles of English rule and domination to allow America the right to be free. ...more

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Jan 09, 2008 Wendy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an illuminating and important book historically. Not only does it represent Thomas Jefferson's fearless edit of the Gospels of Matthew,Mark, Luke and John from the New Testament the Bible extracting what he thought was of value from "a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions, fanaticisms and fabrications"but sheds a light on the inquiring minds of the intellectual elite of his day. He basically cut and pasted and shared his work with John Adams and others w ...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Erik Larson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this book. I went into the book with an open mind. I am an Atheist who has read the bible and wondered what Thomas Jefferson had to say about it. If you have heard of the famous Jefferson - Adams letters where they lightly debate religion then you may know that Thomas wasn't really a fan of the church. That does not mean he is not religious. On the contrary, this book is a basic asemblance of how Thomas Jefferson interpreted the bible. It gives good incite into his views on religion and ...more

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Dec 01, 2010 Prooost Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jefferson's attempt to present Jesus's story, as collected from the four Gospels, in chronological order, omitting all of its supernatural aspects, gives the story a shape that one doesn't necessarily perceive in selecting verses for study out of context. The reader can see an inevitable trajectory towards crucifixion as Jesus gains a following while challenging the authority of some important people.

Jefferson did not believe in the virgin birth, the miracles, the resurrection, etc., but he wish ...more

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Jan 02, 2009 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thomas Jefferson is among the greatest minds from the Founding Generation of Americans. Despite his contributions to the American framework, Jefferson believed that religious beliefs were and should remain an immensely personal topic, and as such he spends very little time discussing this issue even among his most trusted contemporaries, including Benjamin Rush, who may have inspired Jefferson to complete this work following Rush's death.
The Jeffersonian Bible is an intimate look into the mind o ...more

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Aug 24, 2015 David Robbins jr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thomas Jefferson was the father of the phrase: "Wall of separation between church and state." And I can think of no greater enduring philosophy left by the Founding Fathers than imagining Jefferson cutting apart the New Testament of his King James Bible with razor and glue to form his own Gospels in an effort to, in his own words, separate the "diamonds" from the "dunghill" and "nonsense".

The former were the words and wisdom of the teachings of Jesus and the latter were all things supernatural, Thomas Jefferson was the father of the phrase: "Wall of separation between church and state." And I can think of no greater enduring philosophy left by the Founding Fathers than imagining Jefferson cutting apart the New Testament of his King James Bible with razor and glue to form his own Gospels in an effort to, in his own words, separate the "diamonds" from the "dunghill" and "nonsense".

The former were the words and wisdom of the teachings of Jesus and the latter were all things supernatural, the divinity of Jesus (which Jefferson says Jesus never intended) or outside of reason. It was the age of Enlightenment, fueled by the Deism of Thomas Paine's marvelous "The Age of Reason" and the writings of John Toland, Matthew Tindal, John Locke, David Hume, Voltaire and Spinoza.

Unlike the lies modern American politicians like to tell about the Founders (clearly they don't really read any of the Founders' works) during the election cycle, the Founders definitively wanted government apart from religion. No officially sanctioned religion, period. One of the best things about this Smithsonian copy in particular is the "history" chapter than proceeds Jefferson's work. It is a succinct breakdown of his beliefs and his desire for social religious tolerance. In fact, Jefferson, much like the current U.S. President Obama, was accused of being Muslim by the riff-raff simply for imagining a harmonious nation where they too could find a place for their beliefs.

Jefferson's personal beliefs were that the New Testament writers were "ignorant, unlettered men" who produced "superstitions, fanaticisms, and fabrications." He called the Apostle Paul the “first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus.” He dismissed the concept of the Trinity as "abracadabra" and a tool for priests and clergy to become powerful and rich. One can only imagine what he'd think of its political uses in the Republican party (and sometimes the Democratic Party) of today.

In the end, what we're left with is a Jesus who is the ultimate rabbi, but not a shaman. We're left with religion as a personal belief, not a political one. And as Jefferson so aptly points out, "It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." ...more

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Jun 25, 2008 Wesley Weissenberger rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As Thomas Jefferson is arguably the most important figure in American History. I had to pick this one up. While nothing but a re-telling of the New Testement, and even though it is written with a strange mixture of Old Enlish and Contemperary American. It allows for a fresh look at the New Testement with out all of the religious stuff thrown in.

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Oct 24, 2013 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sacred-texts , humanism , religion , christianity , books-about-books , philosophy , history

You have to admire the audacity of the man who wrote "The Declaration of Independence." Who else would take a knife and pot of glue to the very Gospels , and, with an intuitive hermeneutic rooted in his own Enlightenment-era deistic presumptions, attempt to strip away what he considered the "dung" and reveal the "diamonds" of Christ's teachings? Jefferson's attempts to find the universal, essential teachings of Jesus foreshadowed the higher critical approaches of the 19th century, and the 20th ce You have to admire the audacity of the man who wrote "The Declaration of Independence." Who else would take a knife and pot of glue to the very Gospels , and, with an intuitive hermeneutic rooted in his own Enlightenment-era deistic presumptions, attempt to strip away what he considered the "dung" and reveal the "diamonds" of Christ's teachings? Jefferson's attempts to find the universal, essential teachings of Jesus foreshadowed the higher critical approaches of the 19th century, and the 20th century's searches for the hypothetical Q sayings gospel and the "authentic" words of the "historical Jesus" . Those facts, plus the insightful preface (by the late UU minister Forrest Church) and afterword (by the late scholar Jaroslav Pelikan), would, by themselves make this a four- or -five star book.

Unfortunately, since the only English translation of the Gospels that Jefferson had on hand was the King James Version, the resulting "Jefferson Bible" retains the usually impenetrable and too often stultifying language of that translation. He also didn't have access to gospel parallels , and evidently didn't think to look at the Gospels synoptically, because his redaction includes many duplicate stories and parables that make reading it more tedious than necessary. Finally, in reading through what remains of the Gospels, I began to see, for the first time, what many of my atheist friends have argued for some time: that there are fewer clear and flawless "diamonds" in Christ's teachings than Sunday school would leave one to believe. The import of many parables, even with interpretations provided, is lost on a modern reader (heck, it might have been lost on a 1st century reader), and the various discourses and teachings don't sum up to a comprehensive ethical or cosmological vision. This book left me wondering whether Jesus' ethics really were that profound (or even coherent!) after all, or if we just continue to assume so as inheritors of a tradition that insists on this as a fact, even after the obviously mythical elements get stripped away. ...more

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May 03, 2012 Aaron rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I suppose I expected a more condensed version of the Gospels in Jefferson's work. And, while it is more condensed (by leaving out all the miracles and resurrection story), it is not more concise. He's merely stripped away those parts and left everything else in. So, as with other parts of the Bible, we're left reading similar passages, with similar wording, over and over again.

However, in this edition, if you continue on past Jefferson's manipulation of the Gospels, you'll read an afterword by ...more

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Jun 18, 2014 Deborah Schuff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-spirituality , non-fiction

These days there are all kinds of Bibles in various styles of translations, some with highlights targeting different types of people. Chronological Bibles aid better understanding. None of this was available in Thomas Jefferson's day. He had to resort to cutting and pasting onto blank pages. In his original book, he placed Greek and Latin translations in double columns on one page and on the facing page he placed Hebrew and English translations.

In this Kindle version of three books, we get his ...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Richard Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religious

This is an odd one to review. It could be titled The best of Jesus Christ as told by the disciples chosen by Thomas Jefferson. It is somewhat refreshing because there is little story in there, just some morals and parables. Regardless of how you view Christianity, I don't really want to associate with people who don't find the morals in this book to be virtuous at the least.

It isn't the easiest thing to read, but it is the Bible what did I expect? Lots of old english confusing the sentences, bu ...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Steven rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religiony

My sister suggested I might get something out of this, after I'd been going on about how bogus everything in the bible is. That Thomas Jefferson took out all the supernatural elements from the Jesus mythology and humanized him and his moral lessons. It's cool that Jefferson was bold enough to attempt that, but it still didn't work for me because Jesus still waxes on about a supernatural god and heaven and hell and spirits, and a lot of his moral lessons are still based around those things, so ho ...more

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Jul 26, 2014 Sean Cameron rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's an interesting idea. Take the four gospels of the new testament. Put all the accounts into one linear volume and cut out the miracles. What you have is the account of a philosopher/story-teller with a very unhappy ending.

I liked it. It only takes a couple of hours to read, I got to refamiliarise myself with all the parables and imagine a more relatable Jesus figure.

Other only real problem is it gets a bit repetitive. The same lessons get taught at different times over the four gospels so n ...more

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Dec 24, 2013 Jesse rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After this they should make a monument in Washington DC to Thomas Jefferson's sense of self-importance. The level of self-grandizement it takes to edit the words of scripture is a new level of pride reserved for the best the world has to offer. I wonder if he made his moral judgements on the words of Christ before or after he had children with his slaves.

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Oct 16, 2007 Jake Wegman rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Definitely a puzzling project for Jefferson to undertake. I really didn't like how he jumps from chapter to chapter. It's not like the Bible is exactly easy to read in the first place, but Jefferson's approach to the translation of the New Testament is even more beguiling.

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Jul 31, 2015 Rico McCahon rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-history , history , religion

This is the strongest case I've read for Jefferson being a deist, and I don't see how he could be seen as anything else. To end his version of the gospel message with, "There laid they Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the supulchre, and departed," is terribly depressing. No resurrection? And before that, no incarnation? Reducing Jesus to a mere teacher does the opposite of Jefferson's stated purpose, to show the "true" teachings of Jesus, and instead turns him into a kindly fool wh ...more

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Oct 24, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-critique

Succinct, well written, and a powerful insight into the truth, the contradiction, and the absolutely insanity of the Bible. Thomas Jefferson was absolutely a brilliant man.

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Dec 02, 2014 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I mostly enjoyed the introductory material, learning more about the history, study, and restoration of the document. I recognize the obsessive-compulsive traits in Jefferson from my own experience getting a "project" into my head. The fact that he did this, and how he did it, says so much more about who this person was as an individual than the official and very public documents he left behind. My one criticism of the publication is that I would have liked a section that includes all the element ...more

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Jun 07, 2014 Tom Romig rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This excellently reproduced facsimile of Jefferson's famous reworking of the four gospels includes fine introductory matter on the history of the Jefferson Bible and its conservation. Jefferson considered Jesus "this first of human Sages," but felt that scripture had been corrupted by the addition of miracles and claims to the divinity of Christ. His version, which omits all such intrusions, consists of one narrative interweaving sections from the four gospels. He literally cut and pasted passag This excellently reproduced facsimile of Jefferson's famous reworking of the four gospels includes fine introductory matter on the history of the Jefferson Bible and its conservation. Jefferson considered Jesus "this first of human Sages," but felt that scripture had been corrupted by the addition of miracles and claims to the divinity of Christ. His version, which omits all such intrusions, consists of one narrative interweaving sections from the four gospels. He literally cut and pasted passages from bibles in four languages--Greek, Latin, French, and English--and arranged them in columns to permit comparisons. No walking on water, no healing of lepers, no water changed into wine. In the Garden of Gethsemane, for example, Peter cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest but, alas for him, the verse where Jesus restores it has been omitted. As you'd imagine, Jefferson's story ends of Jesus being laid in the tomb, sans hope of resurrection. It is fascinating to read the Jefferson Bible alongside the uncut original to see what has been rearranged and what deleted, all the while trying to imagine what was in Jefferson's mind during his reshaping. Seeing the gospels reconstituted in this way enables the reader to focus on the life and teachings of Jesus. Considered thus, there is much to admire in his morals, but also much that has been rendered irrelevant or even wrong headed by the advances in knowledge during the past 2,000 years. Take away the supernatural and you see Jesus as a remarkable but time-bound teacher. As Jefferson himself said (as recorded in a panel in the Jefferson Memorial): "I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors." ...more

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Mar 06, 2014 Chuck Springer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is always been my understanding that Jefferson was devoted to the teachings of Jesus Christ. But it was known that he didn’t always agree with how they were interpreted by biblical sources, including the writers of the four Gospels, whom he considered to be untrustworthy correspondents. So Jefferson cut out all the narrative and miracles, then edited by pasting up his own account of Christ’s philosophy. This approach is practical and common sense based. I found this perspective enlightening a ...more

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About Thomas Jefferson

More than a mere renaissance man, Jefferson may actually have been a new kind of man. He was fluent in five languages and able to read two others. He wrote, over the course of his life, over sixteen thousand letters. He was acquainted with nearly every influential person in America, and a great many in Europe as well. He was a lawyer, agronomist, musician, scientist, philosopher, author, architect More than a mere renaissance man, Jefferson may actually have been a new kind of man. He was fluent in five languages and able to read two others. He wrote, over the course of his life, over sixteen thousand letters. He was acquainted with nearly every influential person in America, and a great many in Europe as well. He was a lawyer, agronomist, musician, scientist, philosopher, author, architect, inventor, and statesman. Though he never set foot outside of the American continent before adulthood, he acquired an education that rivaled the finest to be attained in Europe. He was clearly the foremost American son of the Enlightenment.

Jefferson was born at Shadwell in Albemarle county, Virginia on April 13, 1743. He was tutored by the Reverend James Maury, a learned man, in the finest classical tradition. He began the study of Latin, Greek, and French at the age of 9. He attended William and Mary College in Williamsburg at sixteen years old, then continued his education in the Law under George Wythe, the first professor of law in America (who later would sign Jefferson's Declaration in 1776). Thomas Jefferson attended the House of Burgesses as a student in 1765 when he witnessed Patrick Henry's defiant stand against the Stamp Act. He gained the Virginia bar and began practice in 1769, and was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1769. It was there that his involvement in revolutionary politics began. He was never a very vocal member, but his writing, his quiet work in committee, and his ability to distill large volumes of information to essence, made him an invaluable member in any deliberative body.

In 1775 when a Virginia convention selected delegates to the Continental Congress, Jefferson was selected as an alternate. It was expected that Payton Randolph, (then Speaker of the Virginia House and president of the Continental Congress too,) would be recalled by the Royal Governor. This did happen and Jefferson went in his place. Thomas Jefferson had a theory about self governance and the rights of people who established habitat in new lands. Before attending the Congress in Philadelphia he codified these thoughts in an article called A Summary View of the Rights of British America. This paper he sent on ahead of him. He fell ill on the road and was delayed for several days. By the time he arrived, his paper had been published as a pamphlet and sent throughout the colonies and on to England where Edmund Burke, sympathetic to the colonial condition, had it reprinted and circulated widely. In 1776 Jefferson, then a member of the committee to draft a declaration of independence, was chosen by the committee to write the draft. This he did, with some minor corrections from James Madison and an embellishment from Franklin, the document was offered to the Congress on the first day of July. The congress modified it somewhat, abbreviating certain wording and removing points that were outside of general agreement. The Declaration was adopted on the Fourth of July.

Jefferson returned to his home not long afterward. His wife and two of his children were very ill, he was tired of being remote from his home, and he was anxious about the development of a new government for his native state.

In June of 1779 he succeeded Patrick Henry as Governor of Virginia. The nation was still at war, and the southern colonies were under heavy attack. Jefferson's Governorship was clouded with hesitation. He himself concluded that the state would be better served by a military man. He declined re-election after his first term and was succeeded by General Nelson of Yorktown.

In 1781 he retired to Monticello, the estate he inherited, to write, work on improved agriculture, and attend his wife. It was during this time that he wrote Notes on the State of Virginia, a work that he never completed. Martha Jefferson died in September of 1782. This event threw Jefferson into a depression that, according to his eldest daughter he might never have recovere ...more

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Books by Thomas Jefferson

The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States

Writings: Autobiography/Notes on the State of Virginia/Public & Private Papers/Addresses/Letters

Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States of America, Bill of Rights and Constitutional Amendments

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