Jefferson Bible

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Jefferson Bible''}}
[[File:Jefferson Bible.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Title page of the original copy of the ''Jefferson Bible'']]
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{{cquote|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 [[diamond]]s in a dunghill. The result is an 8<sup>vo</sup>{{efn|"8<sup>vo</sup>" (octavo) is a paper size.}} of 46 pages of pure and unsophisticated doctrines, such as were professed & acted on by the <u>unlettered [[apostle]]s</u>, the Apostolic fathers, and the Christians of the 1<sup>st</sup> century.|||Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams<ref name=manseau>''The Jefferson Bible: A Biography'' by Peter Manseau (2020) Princeton University Press {{Isbn|0691205698}}.</ref>{{rp|38-39}}<ref name=founders/>}}

The '''''Jefferson Bible''''', officially titled '''''The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth''''', is an extract from the four [[gospels]] that was compiled by [[Thomas Jefferson]].

As a young man, Jefferson was influenced by {{wpl|Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke||,}} a proponent of the [[Enlightenment]].<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|20-24}}<ref name=boston>[https://www.au.org/church-state/november-2020-church-state-magazine/books-ideas/cut-and-paste-job-a-new-history-of A New History Of Thomas Jefferson's Famous Testament] by Rob Boston (November 2020) ''Church & State Magazine ''.</ref> Bolingbroke's writings caused a crisis of faith within Jefferson, which eventually caused him to examine the [[Bible]] more critically.<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|20}}<ref name=boston/>

Whereas Bolingbroke believed that there was little in the Bible or in conventional Christian [[dogma]] worth saving, Jefferson believed that Jesus' ethical teachings were of value. Jefferson's first attempt at such an extraction was in 1804 when he was still [[POTUS|President]]. The result was a 46-page unpublished book titled ''The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth; Extracted from the Account of His Life and Doctrines as Given by Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. Being an Abridgment of the New Testament for the Use of the Indians Unembarrassed with Matters of Fact or Faith Beyond the Level of Their Comprehension.''<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|38-40}}<ref name=boston/> The 'Indian' in the title was likely not a reference to [[Native Americans]], but rather to "[[Federalist Party|Federalist]] critics and their clerical allies who had inaccurately labeled him an [[atheist]]."<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|39,85}}<ref name=boston/>

After retirement, using a razor and glue, Jefferson embarked on creating ''The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'' from the gospels — later known as the ''Jefferson Bible''.<ref name=boston/> The book was intended to be for Jefferson's private use, but in 1892 {{wpl|Cyrus Adler}} on behalf of The Smithsonian was able to purchase the original from a descendant of Jefferson.<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|85-86}}<ref name=boston/> It was exhibited to the public the following year, but access by the public did not begin until 1904 when [[Congress]] authorized the publication of 9000 copies.<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|86-91}}<ref name=boston/>

==Contents==
The ''Jefferson Bible'' consists of the sayings attributed to [[Jesus]] taken from the four gospels, without the rest of the text. Jefferson's [[deism]] played a role in this, as Jefferson wrote to [[John Adams]] that he believed the teachings of Jesus were "diamonds in a dunghill", and also wrote in the same letter, "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."<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|38}}<ref name=founders>[https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0431 Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 12 October 1813] ''Founders Online''.</ref> The book excludes references to [[supernatural]] elements in the four gospels, such as [[miracle]]s and the [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]]. As you might expect, that makes it a rather short read, compared to the [[KJV]].

Jefferson didn't have the scholarship that we have today, which has enabled a rough reconstruction of the [[Q gospel]], but hey, give the guy credit for at least trying.

==Publication==
During the Congressional debates that led up to the 1904 publication, there was substantial public argument about the appropriateness of the [[government]] publishing the Jefferson Bible. The [[religious right]] of the time naturally created a [[moral panic]].<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|108-109}}<ref name=boston/> The Presbyterian Preacher's Association prepared a draft statement declaring "the publication of ''The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'' a direct, public and powerful attack on the Christian religion.'"<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|108}} Reverend John Peacock insinuated with thinly veiled [[antisemitism]] that just because Adler was Jewish, he was therefore hostile to Christianity:<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|109-110}}
{{cquote|There is an almost general misapprehension regarding the opposition to the publication by Congress of this work. We who oppose it do so on the ground that even if the ideas of Jefferson were harmless the fact that the 150-page introduction{{efn|Because of the public anti-semitic rhetoric against him, Adler's introduction to the first edition of the Jefferson Bible was only 13-pages and focused on the physical description and provenance of the original book.<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|110}}}} to the work is by Cyrus Adler, a man whose hostility to Christianity is notorious, gives to the work the stamp of an anti-Christian publication.}}

On the other hand some in the [[Jewish]] community also objected to the publication based on in the principle of [[separation of church and state]].<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|110}} The objection was despite Cyrus Adler being a Jewish religious leader and scholar who worked tirelessly finding, purchasing, exhibiting and preserving the book.<ref name=manseau/> Was the Jefferson Bible a religious document, a [[philosophical]] treatise, or a precious artifact from the founding years of the United States that had nearly been lost? These were not mutually exclusive necessarily. In the end, Congress went ahead with the initial publication in 1904, and subsequently reprinted it and gifted copies of the Jefferson Bible to all new members of Congress for the next five decades."<ref name=manseau/>{{rp|142}}<ref name=boston/>

The ''Jefferson Bible'' has been published numerous times, and several editions are in print today. Some editions are by commercial publishers such as Dover, while others are by groups with their own religious axes to grind. Two examples of the latter are one published by the [[Unitarian Universalist Church]], which places Jefferson's deism in the context of a [[liberal]] religious tradition;<ref>''The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'' by Thomas Jefferson (2006) Beacon Press. {{Isbn|0807077143}}.</ref> and one published by a [[religious right]] publisher with commentary making the case for [[Founding Fathers|Jefferson and the other Founders]]' faith in [[God]]. More obscure editions have been published by Noontide Press (a publisher once associated with [[Liberty Lobby]]),<ref>''The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'' by Thomas Jefferson (1989) Noontide Press. {{Isbn|0939482142}}.</ref> and [[Sovereign Press]],<ref>''An American Christian Bible'' by Thomas Jefferson & Erik Holden (1982) Sovereign Press. {{Isbn|0914752146}}.</ref> both of them with rather anti-Semitic commentaries praising Jefferson's Bible for presenting the teachings of Jesus ''sans'' "Jewish" content. Exploitation by [[fringe]] groups aside, the ''Jefferson Bible'' is mainly regarded as an interesting curiosity and an example of the [[freethought]] of Jefferson.

==External links==
*[http://americanhistory.si.edu/jeffersonbible/ Original Jefferson Bible] at the Smithsonian website, scanned and uploaded, complete with visible cut-and-paste lines.
*[http://www.pattonhq.com/links/uccministry/jeffbible.pdf PDF version download].
*[[wikisource:en:The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth|Text of 1902 edition on Wikisource]].

==Notes==
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==References==
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