Why would Thomas Jefferson re-write the bible?

Question

Why do you suppose one of the most intelligent men in American history would remove all references to miracles from the New Testament?

Why would he remove references to the resurrection?

Thomas Jefferson is usually given credit for writing the Constitution. So, why would a man who help found this "Christian nation" re-write the bible to remove all references to the "Trinity"?



Excerpted from Wikipedia article:

"Miracles and references to the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus are notably absent from the Jefferson Bible. The Bible begins with an account of Jesus's birth without references to angels, genealogy, or prophecy. 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." There is no mention of the resurrection."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

There were no public atheists in the 18th Century. They would have been imprisoned or executed as "heretics," same as they had been in Europe. Old habits die hard.

Answer 1

Jefferson despised organized religion in general, and Christianity in particular. However, he did respect some of the 'sayings' of Jesus. His purpose in writing the 'Jeffersonian Bible' was to eliminate all of the supernatural nonsense (he believed none of it) and retain what he considered to be useful wisdom.

Here's some of what Jefferson himself had to say about it:

1814: "The whole history of these books is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills." On Christian scriptures, in a letter to John Adams

... and about the Trinity:

1822: "No historical fact is better established, than that the doctrine of one God, pure and uncompounded, was that of the early ages of Christianity . . . Nor was the unity of the Supreme Being ousted from the Christian creed by the force of reason, but by the sword of civil government, wielded at the will of the Athanasius. The hocus-pocus phantasm of a God like another Cerberus, with one body and three heads, had its birth and growth in the blood of thousands of martyrs . . . The Athanasian paradox that one is three, and three but one, is so incomprehensible to the human mind, that no candid man can say he has any idea of it, and how can he believe what presents no idea? He who thinks he does, only deceives himself. He proves, also, that man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind. With such person, gullibility which they call faith, takes the helm from the hand of reason, and the mind becomes a wreck." A discussion of the Christian concept of the Trinity, in a letter to James Smith.

Answer 2

Thomas Jefferson wrote many a literal piece. And yes he was intelligent. But everyone who reads the bible, pulls off a different notion from it. They all see it in a different light, and use it in that sense. It's possible that he saw the bible as an embelished history, or a biased opinionated book, written in those biased opinions of men.

But my thoughts on the matter. Thomas was a very scientific man. Not a pagan or hethen. Just a man of the sciences. He disregarded those miracles, because he simply saw no scientific proof or reason for them to be there. For them to have possibly happened.

Answer 3

What do I care if he rewrites the bible? Who wrote it in the first place? As far as I'm concerned, they are also people, who simply decided what they believed in and that they are no more holy than Jefferson. There are also records of dissenters from the earliest stages of christianity and who unfortunately were killed for blasphemy or similar charges. Jefferson may have just tried to continue a variation of christianity that didn't flourish due to circumstances that I do not believe to be a result of divine intervention. (I am of the opinion that Christianity suffered the same fate as Buddhism, a system of belief that originally was all about guiding you to be more humane, but somehow got mired in rituals and superstition)

Similarly, I do find the teachings of Christ to be wise, though I do not believe in miracles and such. The words he spoke, the way he changed values, they bear more weight to me than all the miracles he worked. For even if those miracles did happen, they changed the lives only of those who directly benefited from them, but many of the words he spoke were either of love or of justice, and the more humane world he preached are of much value to this day. Someone discouraging people from stoning a prostitute to death is definitely more respectable to me than someone who heals the sick(though many believe jesus is both). The latter fixes the body, the former fixes our core values.

If you read about Friedrich Nietzche's thoughts on the rise of the supermen, I think Jesus Christ would qualify for his day and age.

I'm starting to get off topic... I rest my case.

Answer 4

First it is important to understand that Jefferson is not the only person to change the bible. King James did himself change parts of the bible to suit his need. Jefferson was no different.

Me belief is that there is no God, otherwise were would man get the right to change his words at all.

As for the first comment about Jefferson having slaves and such, it is sad, but the bible actually does not go against slavery. It is not okay to kill or rape, but it is okay to own another person. This is another reason religion is fake, it fits the people who make it only.

Answer 5

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I don't know a lot about Thomas Jefferson but I do know all men and women have both good and evil in them it is how we know which is which. Nearly everything is a dichotomy of some sort. We all have light and dark, optimist pessimist. Even the glass that is half full is only half full BACAUSE it is half empty. So Thomas Jefferson must have had his demons and angels each with an equal voice, just like all of us.

Answer 6

Jefferson greatly admired the teachings of Jesus, but he had no patience for irrationality in any form. There's no way a dead body can live again, so he cut out all references to the resurrection, as well as a lot of other nonsense.

Answer 7

in my opinion, it sounds like this was done to try and make it more believable so people could relate to it. It would be easier to understand without the trinity and maybe he removed some of the contradictions etc because he felt that people who questioned things in the new testament would be able to accept his version.

I think it was an acceptable thing for him to do and would also have helped him see things more clearly and shows his understandings of things and can portray events in a different light.

Answer 8

He did this in an effort to show that the teachings of Christ still held weight without all of the supernatural junk. It's funny to think that most people think the founding fathers were Christians...
most were Deist's which at the time was essentially what the agnostics are now.

Answer 9

Gee I thought Jefferson was an Atheist. A Jefferson Bible? you've got to be kidding!

Answer 10

One of the reasons for this is because he was an intellegent man.

See the story of Jesus should not be about the miracles that he did, but instead the messages he gave us. Sure he did all of those things, but that is not what is important to us.

Yes he conquered death, but how does that teach us how to live our lives.