Jefferson Bible
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The '''''Jefferson Bible''''', or '''''The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth''''' as it is formally titled, was [[Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson's]] effort to extract the doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing [[supernatural]] aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been added by the [[Four Evangelists]].<ref>{{cite paper
| author = Jeremy Kosselak
| title = The Exaltation of a Reasonable Deity: Thomas Jefferson’s BIBLE of Christianity
| version = (Communicated by: Dr. Patrick Furlong)
| publisher = Indiana University South Bend - Department of History
| date = November 1998
| url = http://www.iusb.edu/~journal/1999/Paper9.html
| accessdate = 2007-02-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite paper
| author = R.P. Nettelhorst
| title = Notes on the Founding Fathers and the Separation of Church and State
| version =
| publisher = Quartz Hill School of Theology
| date =
| url = http://www.theology.edu/journal/volume2/ushistor.htm
| accessdate = 2007-02-20 }}</ref>
== Early draft ==
In an 1803 letter to [[Joseph Priestley]], Jefferson states that he conceived the idea of writing his view of the "Christian System" in a conversation with Dr. [[Benjamin Rush]] during 1798–99. He proposes beginning with a review of the morals of the ancient philosophers, moving on to the ethics of the Jews, and concluding with the "principles of a pure deism" taught by Jesus, "omitting the question of his deity." Jefferson explains that he really doesn't have the time, and urges the task on Priestley as the person best equipped to accomplish the task.<ref name="Correspondence">[http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/jefferson_m_03.html Excerpts from the Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson] Retrieved on [[March 30]], [[2007]]</ref>
Jefferson accomplished a more limited goal in 1804 with “The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth,” the predecessor to ''Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth''.<ref>[http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/thomasjefferson.html Unitarian Universalist Historical Society] profile of Jefferson, Retrieved on [[March 30]], [[2007]]</ref> He described it in a letter to [[John Adams]] dated [[13 October]], [[1813]]:
{{Cquote2|In extracting the pure principles which he taught, we should have to strip off the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests, who have travestied them into various forms, as instruments of riches and power to themselves. We must dismiss the [[Plato]]nists and [[Plotinus|Plotinists]], the Stagyrites and [[Gamaliel]]ites, the [[Eclectics]], the [[Gnostics]] and [[Scholastics]], their essences and emanations, their logos and demiurges, aeons and daemons, male and female, with a long train of … or, shall I say at once, of nonsense. We must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus, paring off the amphibologisms into which they have been led, by forgetting often, or not understanding, what had fallen from him, by giving their own misconceptions as his dicta, and expressing unintelligibly for others what they had not understood themselves. 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 arranging the matter which is evidently his, and which is as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill. The result is an octavo of forty-six pages, of pure and unsophisticated doctrines. <ref name="Correspondence"/>}}
Jefferson frequently expressed discontent with this earlier version, however. ''The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'' represents the fulfillment of his desire to produce a more carefully assembled edition.
== Content ==
Jefferson arranged selected verses from the books of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]], [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], and [[Gospel of John|John]] in chronological order, mingling excerpts from one next to those of another in order to create a single narrative. Thus he begins with Luke 2 and Luke 3, then follows with Mark 1 and Matthew 3. He provides a record of which verses he selected and of the order in which he arranged them in his “Table of the Texts from the Evangelists employed in this Narrative and of the order of their arrangement.”
The Jefferson Bible begins with an account of Jesus’s birth without references to [[angel]]s, [[genealogy]], or [[prophecy]]. [[Miracle]]s, references to the [[Trinity]] and the [[divinity]] of Jesus, and Jesus' [[resurrection]] are also absent from the Jefferson Bible.<ref>Erik Reece, [http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/Jesus-Without-Miracles1dec05.htm "Jesus Without The Miracles - Thomas Jefferson's Bible and the Gospel of Thomas,"] ''Harper's Magazine'', v. 311, n. 1867 (Dec. 1, 2005).</ref> The work ends with the words: “Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus. And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.” These words correspond to the ending of John 19 in the Bible.
== Publication history ==
After completion of the ''Life and Morals'', about 1820, Jefferson shared it with a number of friends, but he never allowed it to be published during his lifetime.
The most complete form Jefferson produced was inherited by his grandson, [[Thomas Jefferson Randolph]], and was published in [[1895]] by the [[Smithsonian Institution|National Museum]] in Washington.
The book was later published as a [[lithographic]] reproduction by an act of the [[United States Congress]] in [[1904]]. For many years copies were given to new members of Congress.<ref>{{cite paper
| author = Christopher Hitchens
| title = What Jefferson Really Thought About Islam
| version =
| publisher = Slate
| date = Jan. 9, 2007
| url = http://www.slate.com/id/2157314/
| accessdate = 2007-01-24 }}</ref> The text is now freely available on the Internet since it is in the [[public domain]].
== Criticism ==
In the introduction to the Akashic Books 2004 edition of The Jefferson Bible, [[Percival Everett]] describes the work with a somewhat derogatory but realistic tone:
{{Cquote2|Jefferson's recasting of the four Gospels of the New Testament…was an interesting (or not) bit of play intellectualism. Many claim his "translation" amounts to little more than a paraphrasing of the parts of the Bible with which he agreed. In fact, a glance at [several earlier translations of the Bible] might lead one to agree with this assertion. Still, he took it upon himself to do it, whatever it was he did. He decided that the rules of the club to which he wished to belong were not the rules he wanted to play by. So instead of changing clubs, he changed the rule book by literally cutting and pasting together only the sections that he found relevant to his interpretation.}}
== Editions in print ==
* ''The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'' (2006) Dover Publications paperback: ISBN 0-486-44921-1
* ''The Jefferson Bible'', (2006) Applewood Books hardcover: ISBN 1-55709-184-6
* ''The Jefferson Bible'', introduction by [[Cyrus Adler]], (2005) Digireads.com paperback: ISBN 1-4209-2492-3
* ''The Jefferson Bible'', introduction by [[Percival Everett]], (2004) Akashic Books paperback: ISBN 1-888451-62-9
* ''The Jefferson Bible'', (2001) Beacon Press hardcover: ISBN 0-8070-7714-3
* ''The Jefferson Bible'', introduction by [[M.A. Sotelo]], (2004) Promotional Sales Books, LLC paperback
* ''Jefferson’s “Bible:” The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'', introduction by Judd W. Patton, (1997) American Book Distributors paperback: ISBN 0-929205-02-2
== See also ==
* [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]]
* [[The Age of Reason]]
* [[Joseph Priestley]]
* [[Rationalism]]
==References==
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== External links ==
* E-text: [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefJesu.html “Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”] - at [[University of Virginia]] Library
*[http://www.angelfire.com/co/JeffersonBible/ The Jefferson Bible] with notes on the text, Spanish and German editions
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20030212234400/http://www.monticello.org/resources/interests/religion.html Jefferson’s Religious Beliefs] archived page from Monticello.org
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/jefferson.html PBS Frontline: Thomas Jefferson and his Bible]
*[http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Annodomini/THEME_15/EN/theme15-4.html Front page image] of Jefferson Bible manuscript
* [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beliefs5-2008jul05,0,7730914.story Jefferson Bible reveals Founding Father's view of God, faith] - Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2008
[[Category:1804 books]]
[[Category:Bible versions and translations]]
[[Category:Books by Thomas Jefferson|Bible]]
[[es:Biblia de Jefferson]]
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