The Jefferson Bible Paperback – October 29, 2014

Thomas Jefferson (TJ) thought very highly of Jesus as a philosopher but he had no use for the dogma of Christianity as developed by those evangelists (as epitomized by Paul) who followed Jesus. He believed the writers of the New Testament to be uneducated; delivering word of mouth, fabricated and exaggerated information decades after the fact, and did not consider any of it to be inspired by God. With encouragement from others, including John Adams, he decided to "reorganize" the New Testament, deleting the objectionable parts, leaving only the teachings of Jesus.TJ did this twice - once when he was in the White House, spending only 2 or 3 nights on it after doing his routine daily correspondence - and the more definitive version which we have here, when he was 76, about 1820. Since TJ considered anyone's faith to be a private affair, it's not clear whether he ever expected publication. There are hints that he went to some efforts to avoid public knowledge of at least the first version, probably because the more vocal of his opponents already reviled him as an infidel too impious to be president, and a theological heretic.TJ's Bible, only 46 pages, ended up being a rearrangement of the gospels only, excluding any parts he didn't like - virgin birth, miracles, resurrection, and dogma developed by first century Christians. TJ, in a letter to Benjamin Rush describing his planned redaction of the Gospels, said only, "I have a view of the subject which ought to displease neither the rational Christian nor Deist." While contemplating his redaction, he wrote, "There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man. I have performed this operation for my own use, by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and by arranging the matter which is evidently his, and which is as distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill."In the second century, Titian wrote the "Diatessaron," an attempt to combine and harmonize the four gospels. It enjoyed semi-canonical standing in the Syriac Christian church for centuries. Thomas Friedman has written two books about the Documentary Hypothesis, making the Torah (first five books of the Old Testament) a redaction of several ancient writers. TJ was not the first to attempt improvements on either Testament of the Bible.Careful review of TJ's Bible reveals that it was difficult for him to get rid of all he despised and yet keep all that he liked. Good works were so interspersed with miracles that one could not get rid of the miracle without lessening the value of the moral lesson.To quote from the book, "Like other Enlightenment rationalists, TJ was convinced that the real villain in the Christian story was the apostle Paul, who had corrupted the religion OF Jesus into a religion ABOUT Jesus, which thus had, in combination with the otherworldly outlook of the 4rth gospel, produced the monstrosities of dogma, superstition, and priestcraft which were the essence of Christian orthodoxy. The essence of authentic religion, and therefore of the only kind of Christianity in which TJ was interested, needed to be rescued from these distortions, so that the true person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth might rise from the dead page - the only kind of resurrection TJ was prepared to accept."If this book is to be believed, at least between 1904 and 1956, a copy of the Jefferson Bible was given to each US Senator upon inauguration. As much as TJ believed in separation of church and state, I wonder what he would have thought of this practice.I can highly recommend this little book. It has not only a readable version of the gospels (uniquely shuffled), but a pre-commentary and post-commentary which give a superb view of TJ's religious views.

Jefferson was an incredible man in many, many respects. Monticello is still one of the very most thoughtfully laid out, planned and executed working farms ever built! Even back during the beginnings of The United States, Jefferson was interested in knowing why the main religions of the world are always at each others' throats, instead of being unified in purpose. He wanted to know what the differences between the Holy writings of the Bible (Christian), The Tanakh (Jewish), and The Koran (Muslim) were. Over a period of years, with all three laid open on his desk, and going page by page, he compared the three. He did this while he was President! He removed anything that could not be proven or verified, anything that was mythical or fantastical like the Seven Headed Beast, Resurrection, etc, everything that contradicted itself, and everything else that didn't exactly match up between all three books. What Jefferson ended up with was a distillation, if you like, of all things the three main religions all agreed on. It is the very heart and core of what he believed faith should be. He believed that if you could get all three religions to see only these agreed on parts, there would be nothing like Jihad or Crusade, or any of the other reasons supposedly Holy men have used to set one religion against the others in bloodshed. This is an extremely interesting piece of religious work for anyone who is still seeking Him!!

President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), a deist, believed in the existence of a single deity who was uninvolved in the daily life of people. He disliked both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament for many reasons, especially because they include unnatural, even impossible events. He felt that some, but not all, of the ethical teachings in the Bibles are worth teaching.He - like Leo Tolstoy in his The Gospel in Brief, and others - decided to cut and paste the New Testament Gospels, with no attempt to retain the order of the Gospel writers, and remove those items that distressed him, including the miraculous birth of Jesus, told with different "facts" in two of the four Gospels, and all of the other miracles, including the events that occurred after Jesus death. He solved the problem of the frequent differences between the Gospels about what occurred to Jesus at different times - for each Gospel has its own version of the life of Jesus that differs widely with the other three - by selecting passages from each that he thought made sense and blending them together to create what he considered a perfect no longer defective Bible, a Bible that teaches morality.Those who suppose that Jefferson's Bible has any relation to the New Testament are mistaken.Bart D. Ehrman highlights a sample of about a hundred thousand differences between the four gospels in his 2009 book, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don't Know About Them). He points out that there is something far more significant than these different descriptions of New Testament events; it is the fact that each of the gospel writers wrote his book to offer his readers his unique understanding of Jesus life and mission. These views differ greatly. For example, Mark, writing a little more than several decades after Jesus' traditional date of death, emphasized that Jesus was predicting the advent of a new and better world on earth during the lifetime of those listening to him. In contrast, John, who composed his Gospel decades later, after the death of all of Jesus' contemporaries, stated that Jesus' message was that people should strive to achieve an everlasting life in heaven.Jefferson's perfect Bible retains many "flaws" that Ehrman disclosed exist in the canonical version, such as the census in its opening verse, which history has shown never occurred, and the curious statement that Joseph had to take his family to Bethlehem because one of his ancestors had lived part-time in this city over a thousand years before he was born.However, more importantly, Jefferson demolished the uniqueness of each of the four gospels. He created a Bible that each of the Gospel writers would reject. He distorted the moral teachings in two ways. First, as we said, he changed the overall focus and intent of the document. Second, by mixing the language of each gospel writer and presenting them in his own chronological order, he perverted the details of the teachings.

"The Jefferson Bible" is a remarkable book that offers a fascinating perspective on the religious and philosophical views of former United States President, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's unique approach in compiling this book, where he extracted the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus Christ from the New Testament, presents a profound and thought-provoking reflection on religion.One of the main strengths of the book is the clarity with which Jefferson presents his personal interpretation of Jesus' teachings, highlighting the emphasis on ethical virtues and morality, regardless of specific religious dogmas. This approach allows for a broader appreciation of the universal messages of love, compassion, and social justice conveyed by Jesus.Furthermore, the careful organization of the book, with the logical sequence of Jesus' teachings, makes the reading smooth and easily understandable. Readers can appreciate the conciseness and precision of the words selected by Jefferson to convey the essence of Jesus' message."The Jefferson Bible" is a valuable work for those interested in religious matters as well as those seeking a secular approach to morality and ethics. By stripping Jesus' teachings of theological and dogmatic elements, Jefferson creates a work that can be appreciated by a diverse audience, fostering healthy dialogue about the universal principles that transcend religious divisions.In summary, "The Jefferson Bible" is a book that challenges conventional norms, offering a unique and thoughtful insight into Jesus' teachings. Its clear and accessible approach, along with its ongoing relevance, makes this book an engaging and inspiring read for those interested in exploring the ethical and moral roots of Christianity.

A great read made simple by taking out the magic. If only someone did the same to the old testement!

Definitely better than reading the real thing. Jefferson did a great job of producing a summary that gets the message through very effectively. This is definitely an asset in any book collection.

This "Bible" is a very interesting put-together of Gospel texts. It's worthy your time to read itand have an insight of Thomas Jefferson's understanding of the Christ-event.

What a beautiful book - not just the text itself but the binding/cover.This is the second one I have purchased - one for a friend and onefor myself.