Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-07-24
OUTSIDE POINT OF VIEW

Probably by this time the majority OF
the public have forgotten all about the
JEFFERSON Bible episode during the last
| congress. it is also as safe an asser-
llon that the majority of the people to-
day, in common with the writer, know
very little of the contents of the book
SO, When Edwin l.. Shuman in the Rec
| ord Herald reviewed" the book, the
writer kept the clipping, and repro
| duceS much of it here. A publishins
house in the east has anticipated the
appearance of the authorized edition by
issuing the English portion of the VOL
ume in a neat book of 16S pages, pref
aced by Jefferson's letter to DR.. Ben
jamin Rush, in which he gave full ex-
preston to his private religious views
| The formal title of the book is The
Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth
Extracted TeXtualy from the Gospels
While Jefferson was overwhelmed
with other business, in 1903 he took
the time to cut from the four gospels
such passages as he believed would best
4 present the ethical teachings of Jesus
and arranged them on the pages of a
blank book in a certain order of time
or subject" Later he completed his de-
sign by adding the Greek, Latin and
| French texts in columns, side by side,
binding the whole in substantial NOR
Deco volume labeled on the outside
4 Morals of Jesus" This is the much
talked-of Jefferson Bible" which is
now owned by the government and is
about TO be published.
| While the volume was still in the
possession of Jeffersons eldest grand
son, Col. Thomas jefferson Randolph,
a copy Of its table of contents was
made. and from that copy the English
text is now issued as a commercial en-
terprise. AS the table of contents gave
the numbers of the Bible chapters and
verses chosen by jefferson, all that was
necessary was to pick out these pas
sages from copy of the King James
version and put them together. should
not like to stake my salvation on the
perfect accuracy of the result. In fact,
| the book is not free from typographical
errors, but for all practical purposes it
| is fair to presume that the present edi-
| ton is essentially correct.
Mr.. Jefferson's comment on his wee
| little book in letter to his friend
Charles Thompson throws pleasing
and valuable light upon his real atti-
tude toward religion. "A more beauti-
full or precious morsel of ethics / have
never seen," he said. ut is docu-
ment in proof that am real Chris
tan, that Is to say. disciple of the
doctrines of Jesus. very different from
the Platonists, who call ME infidel and
| themselves Christians and preachers of
the gospel. While they draw all their
characteristic dogmas from what its
author never said nor saw. They have
compounded from the heather myster
les system beyond the comprehension
of man, of which the great reformer of
the vicious ethics and deism of the
Jews, were He to return to earth, would
not recognize one feature"
The same thought will be found fur
Their elaborated in the letter to DR.
Rush. In which he held that the simple
teachings of Jesus had been disfgured
'by ENGRAVING on them the mysticisms
of a Grecian Sophist (Plato), frittering
them into subtleties and obscuring
them With jargon, until they have
caused good men to reject the whole i'm
disgust, and to view Jesus himself as
an impostor. Notwithstanding these
disadvantages. a system of morals is
presented to us which, If filled up in the
true style and spirit of the rich frag-
ments He left us, would be the most
perfect and sublime that has ever been
taught by man."
In this letter he deliberately waived
the question of the divinity of Christ as
foreign to the subject he was discuss
ing, but the Jefferson Bible" leaves lit