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Rating: 
Summary: Jefferson's "Theological" background to the Declaration
Review: Allen Jayne's "Jefferson's Declaration of Independence" is a fantastic book. Jayne explores the Scottish Enlightenment and the religious liberalism of Lord Bolingbroke, a hero of Jefferson. Also Jayne shows how Jefferson's own religious liberalism influenced his philosophy behind the Declaration when he referred to "Nature's God". This was not Jehovah, but the God of Reason, and the Universe. Jayne shows the influence of the "moral sense" Scottish philosophy on Jefferson as he formulated a coherent philosophy of freedom, and religious liberty. It is also shown how Jefferson believed that religious tyranny to be the worst of all tyrannies since it crushed the freedom of thought. Jefferson, a tireless opponent of mental slavery, used the theological influences of Lord Bolingbroke to inaugurate the new nation. A great study.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Compelling Case Yet
Review: Contrary to popular interpretations by Garry Wills and Pauline Maier, in his book Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy & Theology, University Press of Kentucky (1998), Allen Jayne makes the most compelling case yet for understanding the ideas and ideals in the Declaration.Garry Wills in his Inventing America (1978) credits the Scottish Enlightenment as Jefferson's primary source of ideas. But Allen Jayne meticulously shows that Jefferson was much more "eclectic," building from Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke; John Locke; Henry Home, Lord Kames; and Thomas Reid. Furthermore, quite beyond justifying our separation from England, Jayne focuses on what he calls a "heterodox theology" in the first paragraph of the Declaration, which replaces the Judeo-Christian orthodoxy with the "laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The "laws of nature," both moral and scientific, as Jayne explains, rejects not only the doctrine of predestination and original sin, but the idea of a chosen people. Instead, "Nature's God" created mankind as a social being endowed with a "moral sense" and "reason," by which individuals are capable of discovering truth on their own, without the aide of church or revelation. As Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia Peter S. Onuf observes, it was Jefferson's "first paragraph that changed the world." Throughout his book, Allen Jayne demonstrates that Jefferson's vision in the Declaration while not containing, in Jefferson's words, "new principles or new arguments never before thought of," is not only an engaging and benevolent conception. It is a coherent philosophy as well. Moreover, Jayne makes laughable the claim by Pauline Maier in her American Scripture (1997) that the various other Declarations (at least 90) issued throughout the 13 colonies (between April and July 1776), say much the same thing as Jefferson in his Declaration. Given this reasoning, the several hundred composers who lived and worked during the time of Mozart, deserve as much acclaim as Mozart. Of the more than 6,000 titles in the Jefferson bibliography, Allen Jayne's book is a most welcome and profound work. It is a new level of scholarship on the Declaration. Nothing could be more important than for Americans to understand their founding document. By Sydney N. Stokes, Jr.
Chairman
The Jefferson Legacy Foundation
www.jeffersonlegacy.org
Rating:
Summary: The Most Compelling Case Yet
Review: Contrary to popular interpretations by Garry Wills and Pauline Maier, in his book Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy & Theology, University Press of Kentucky (1998), Allen Jayne makes the most compelling case yet for understanding the ideas and ideals in the Declaration. Garry Wills in his Inventing America (1978) credits the Scottish Enlightenment as Jefferson's primary source of ideas. But Allen Jayne meticulously shows that Jefferson was much more "eclectic," building from Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke; John Locke; Henry Home, Lord Kames; and Thomas Reid. Furthermore, quite beyond justifying our separation from England, Jayne focuses on what he calls a "heterodox theology" in the first paragraph of the Declaration, which replaces the Judeo-Christian orthodoxy with the "laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The "laws of nature," both moral and scientific, as Jayne explains, rejects not only the doctrine of predestination and original sin, but the idea of a chosen people. Instead, "Nature's God" created mankind as a social being endowed with a "moral sense" and "reason," by which individuals are capable of discovering truth on their own, without the aide of church or revelation. As Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia Peter S. Onuf observes, it was Jefferson's "first paragraph that changed the world." Throughout his book, Allen Jayne demonstrates that Jefferson's vision in the Declaration while not containing, in Jefferson's words, "new principles or new arguments never before thought of," is not only an engaging and benevolent conception. It is a coherent philosophy as well. Moreover, Jayne makes laughable the claim by Pauline Maier in her American Scripture (1997) that the various other Declarations (at least 90) issued throughout the 13 colonies (between April and July 1776), say much the same thing as Jefferson in his Declaration. Given this reasoning, the several hundred composers who lived and worked during the time of Mozart, deserve as much acclaim as Mozart. Of the more than 6,000 titles in the Jefferson bibliography, Allen Jayne's book is a most welcome and profound work. It is a new level of scholarship on the Declaration. Nothing could be more important than for Americans to understand their founding document. By Sydney N. Stokes, Jr.
Chairman
The Jefferson Legacy Foundation
www.jeffersonlegacy.org
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book on the source of Jefferson's ideas
Review: For generations, historians have examined the Declaration of Independence looking for the source of Jefferson's ideas. Many have looked to John Locke and his Second Treatise on Government as the main source. While acknowledging Locke as an important source for Jefferson, Jayne also suggests that there were other sources for Jefferson's thought. In researching for this book, Jayne examined Jefferson's Commonplace Books, where he recorded selections from various authors. He compared these selections to the ideas in the Declaration and found ways that different authors influenced Jefferson's thoughts as they appeared in the Declaration of Independence.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book on the source of Jefferson's ideas
Review: For generations, historians have examined the Declaration of Independence looking for the source of Jefferson's ideas. Many have looked to John Locke and his Second Treatise on Government as the main source. While acknowledging Locke as an important source for Jefferson, Jayne also suggests that there were other sources for Jefferson's thought. In researching for this book, Jayne examined Jefferson's Commonplace Books, where he recorded selections from various authors. He compared these selections to the ideas in the Declaration and found ways that different authors influenced Jefferson's thoughts as they appeared in the Declaration of Independence.
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