In “The Jefferson Bible” the stories of the miracles Jesus performed are nowhere to be found, but “Heavenly Kingdoms” are mentioned. Critic said Jefferson admired Jesus as a great moralist, but didn’t accept him as Christ.
Jefferson has been considered having “little religion” and ‘had no very good opinion of the Bible or the institutions of religion.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Thomas Jefferson is a real Christian
Jefferson advocated the separation of state and religion and religious freedom. He is talented and well versed in all fields of knowledge, but he is not a theologian or an evangelist; he considered himself a real Christian.
Jefferson once said ”Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my god and myself alone,” and “I am moreover averse to the communication of my religious tenets to the public.”
In his letter to his old friend, Charles Thompson (Secretary of the Continental Congress) on Jan. 19, 1816, Jefferson talked about this book,
“. . . I, too, have made a wee-little book from the same material (The Gospels) which I call the Philosophy of Jesus. . . .A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen. It is a document in proof that I am a REAL CHRISTIAN, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists, who called ME infidel and themselves Christians and preachers of the Gospel,...”
The Jefferson Bible reveals his religious views Upon completion of his version of Bible, Jefferson sent Dr. Benjamin Rush a letter on April 21, 1803,
“Dear Sir, in some of the delightful conversations with you, in the evenings of 1798-99, . . . Christian religion was sometimes our topic; and I then promised you that one day or other, I would give you my views of it. They are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from that Anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of christianity I am indeed opposed, but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished any one 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.”
The Jefferson Bible was published in 1911 by US government. The fresh congressmen or congress women receive a copy as a gift.
The
Sabbath that Daniel Webster spent with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello
In
response to the inquiry of the Sabbath School in New York city,
Daniel Webster wrote a letter to Prof Pease on June 15, 1852, in
which he described a Sabbath he spent with Jefferson in
Monticello. It sheds further light on Jefferson’s
religious view.“. . . Many years ago I spent a Sabbath with Thomas Jefferson, at his residence in Virginia. It was in the month of June, and the weather was delightful. While engaged in discussing the beauties of the Bible, the sound of a bell broke upon . . . [one line was obliterated upon scanning by NY Times] our ears, when, turning to the sage of Monticello, I remarked, “How sweetly, how very sweetly sounds that Sabbath bell” The distinguished statesman for a moment seemed lost in thought, and then replied: “Yes, my dear Webster, yes, it melts the heart, it calms our passion, and makes us boys again.” Here I observed that man was only an animal formed for religious worship, and that notwithstanding all the sophistry of Epicurus, Lucretius and Voltaire, the Scriptures stood upon a rock as firm, as unmovable as truth itself; that man in his purer, loftier breathings, turned the mental eyes toward immortality, and that the poet only echoed the general sentiment of our nature in saying that “the soul, secure in her existence, smiles at the drawn dagger, and defies its point.”
Mr.Jefferson fully agreed in this opinion, and observed that the tendency of the American mind was in different direction; and that Sunday-school (he did not use our more correct term, Sabbath) presented the only legitimate means, under the Constitution, of avoiding the rock on which the French Republic was wreaked, “BURKE,” said he, “never uttered a more important truth than when he exclaimed that ‘a religious education was the cheap defence of nations.’” “RAIKES,” said Mr. Jefferson, “has done more for our country than the present generation will acknowledge: perhaps, when I am cold [?], he will obtain his reward; I hope so, earnestly hope so; I am considered by man; Mr. Webster, to have little religion, but now is not the time to correct errors of this sort. I have always said, and always will say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands. . .”
It is of interest to note that Webster said Jefferson used the term 'Sunday School', instead of the correct term 'Sabbath School'. Jefferson was apparently ahead of his time. I wonder when did the term 'Sunday School' become more popular?
When we first visited the Union restaurant in Boston in 1976; we saw a sign saying Daniel Webster and JFK frequented this restaurant. That was the time I began to pay attention to this Congressman, Senator and the Secretary of State from Massachusetts whose rhetorical flourish Lincoln imitated or borrowed.
