The Jefferson Bible

Rating:
Summary: Well... just read on
Review: "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Revelation 22:19)

The Jefferson Bible is a book that I read not in search of redemption but out of curiosity. I am a Christian and have been for over eight years. For some time, I revolted against all atheism, and refused to read any literatures against Christianity. But I had discovered as I matured more, that different opinions and beliefs are vital to one's life. I read several books and they were okay, but then I picked up The Jefferson Bible to see what our third President had to offer. I read it open-mindedly; willing to see my convictions changed, as from what I had seen, Jefferson was a brilliant man with much knowledge. The preface provoked me to further curiosity; I found it a bit dry, but it interested me, because of this man's apparent change in life because of this book. As I read "The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson" (Forrest Church), I found his history appealing, although a bit confusing. I had always come to the conclusion John Adams had been a Christian, and yet he encouraged Jefferson's efforts in placing "the character of Jesus in its true and high light." Jefferson had many encouragers of whom I have never heard of too that were not religious, but materialists, socialists, atheists, etc.

Anyways, after concluding that the men of the time of Jefferson were more intent on philosophy that spiritualism, I continued on my research. I studied Jefferson efforts, as he, "razor in hand, ... sat editing the Gospels during February, 1804" to make Jesus more of a philosopher than a Redeemer. I found that Jefferson's efforts were poor and very disappointingly researched. Jesus, without His leading us to eternal life, has nothing to offer. He had a very few good morals to teach, but each was linked to the Way, and there was no way Jefferson could have depicted them to fit his intentions. I found that Jefferson's Jesus lacked the ingenuity and flowing of readability. Jefferson attempted to only include Jesus' morals and philosophies, but also included several of Jesus claims to being the Son of God, that I would have assumed he would omit. The main catch was that he allowed the verse where Pilate puts up the sign "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS" in Jesus' crucifixion, and that he left several mentions of the resurrection. I found that without Jesus Christ's teaching of eternal life, that this work of Jefferson has no authority or reference. It leaves Jesus as more of a heretic than anything else. He refers to God as His Father, and this book portrays Him as one who taught well but lost His mind before His death. It is sad that many consider Jefferson's work a masterpiece. I think Jefferson did his best to portray Jesus in the way he wished (as one who was a great philosopher), but failed.

I believe that the only reason for men deeming this as truthful is because they are attacking the truth of Jesus, and will resort to any other than the one truth: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He holds to Way to eternal life. It is sad to know how Jefferson and many of his contemporaries end up in the end, condemned to eternal death. For there is no way to Life other than through the Son of God ~ not through "Jesus the philosopher".

I would recommend this book to those curious about Jefferson's beliefs, as they are ingeniously portrayed throughout. But if you are looking to see "the true Jesus", I am afraid you will be disappointed. Many atheists will do there best to get the most out of it (after blocking from their minds the mention of Jesus' Father and the resurrection as Jefferson did, because He failed to omit it; the Gospels mean nothing without the Truth.), but there is nothing to learn other that Jefferson was lost and so were the others mentioned in the forward, afterward, etc. Jefferson tried to get rid of all that "supernatural stuff", and though he tried, he only got everything confused. The stuff other than Jefferson's "cuttings" were well written although a little mislead, so I give it three stars. Does it deserve it? Read it and find out. Good luck.

"We cannot separate His demands from His love. We cannot dissect Jesus and relate only to the parts we like." --Rebecca Manley Pippert

Rating:
Summary: One for the nightstand
Review: Approaching the bible form a non-theistic, religious humanist frame of mind is quite a difficult one. In fact, seemingly impossible. I have, however always been facinated by the Bible, it's history and our attraction to it. The Jefferson Bible was perfect for me. His verson of the Gospels excludes the virgin birth, the raising of the dead, the casting out of demons and even the ressurection! Instead it focuses on the TEACHINGS of Jesus... the SPIRIT rather than the LETTER. For those interested in the teachings of Jesus without all the 'fantacy' I suggest this book at all costs.

Rating:
Summary: It's a spiritual guide
Review: As the person responsible for the Jefferson Bible on the web... , I found the reviews posted here fascinating, including the very negative ones. Apparently, it is easy to miss the point of the Jefferson Bible. It is not a treatise on religious dogma or analysis, but a personal spiritual guide for those unable to stomach all the hocus pocus usually associated with the teachings of Jesus. Whatever one's feeling about the Bible, it is difficult to see how anyone could consider the purified teachings of Jesus as "tripe." Jefferson merely selected passages that spoke to his heart and put them all together in a single collection for his own use. Thousands have looked at his collection and determined that it speaks to their heart also.

Rating:
Summary: Well... just read on
Review: Did you ever wonder what the Gospels would be like without all that supernatural stuff? Thomas Jefferson did, and he found out [in around 1820] by using multiple copies of the Bible and a razor blade. The result was The Life and Morals Of Jesus of Nazareth in four languages. The Jefferson Bible reprints the english version of The Life And Morals along with an excellent introductory essay by Forrest Church, Unitarian minister and son of Senator Frank Church, and a decent closing essay by Jaroslav Pelikan. I have known about the Jefferson Bible for years, but finally read it this year on Easter [it seemed like a good thing for an atheist and rationalist to do]. Jesus said some pretty cool things [and some pretty spacey things], and the force of the teachings come out more when divorced from everything else that appears with them in the New Testament. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the teachings of Jesus, or the mind and the religion of the writer of the Declaration of Independence. And if your neighbor starts telling you that the public schools should start teaching the religion of the Founding Fathers, you can give them a copy of the Jefferson Bible.

Rating:
Summary: The Good Parts New Testament
Review: Did you ever wonder what the Gospels would be like without all that supernatural stuff? Thomas Jefferson did, and he found out [in around 1820] by using multiple copies of the Bible and a razor blade. The result was The Life and Morals Of Jesus of Nazareth in four languages. The Jefferson Bible reprints the english version of The Life And Morals along with an excellent introductory essay by Forrest Church, Unitarian minister and son of Senator Frank Church, and a decent closing essay by Jaroslav Pelikan. I have known about the Jefferson Bible for years, but finally read it this year on Easter [it seemed like a good thing for an atheist and rationalist to do]. Jesus said some pretty cool things [and some pretty spacey things], and the force of the teachings come out more when divorced from everything else that appears with them in the New Testament. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the teachings of Jesus, or the mind and the religion of the writer of the Declaration of Independence. And if your neighbor starts telling you that the public schools should start teaching the religion of the Founding Fathers, you can give them a copy of the Jefferson Bible.

Rating:
Summary: Not Simply Cut and Paste
Review: For those who continually aspire to know Jefferson, it comes as know surprise that his vanity led him to rewrite the bible to suit his own religiosity. Rewrite is a strong phrase really. Jefferson worked over many years (perhaps for only a few hours a week) to put together this final version of the bible. At one level this is simply a cut and paste project. Portions of the bible, those that reflect the morality and courage of Jesus the teacher, have been pieced together and presented as a fairly smooth story. The result is a masterful work which pierces through religious dogma (and, to be honest, anything requiring "great faith") and brings the essence of Christ's work to the forefront. What was so astounding about this work, besides its readability, was its simplicity. While a cut and paste job for sure, this was not a haphazard project (although the end of the text seems hastened). This is a must read for every student of history, and is strongly recommended for those who desire to come to a fuller understanding of two great minds.

Rating:
Summary: The First Book On Morals, Ethics, And Character
Review: How many of us have read the Bible in its entirety? I dare say, not many of us. Imagine how serious a thinker Jefferson must have been for him to make the effort to do that. On the other hand, imagine how objective a thinker he must have been to fashion, straight from the Bible, the world's first ever bible of morals, ethics, and character. That is one of his little known, most important contributions to humanity. No less than that, my dear fellow Americans, is the true enormity of his Biblical analysis and editing. The only other book I have ever found that recognizes Jefferson as the first to "write" a book on morals, ethics, and character, and in that sense a pioneer itself, is "West Point" by Norman Thomas Remick. To gain more insight into the religious/philosophical side of Jefferson, I recommend you go on to reading that book after reading the "Jefferson Bible".

Rating:
Summary: Jesus as accessible moral leader
Review: I have always been interested in Thomas Jefferson. He is one of the most enigmatic of American heroes. All the ambiguity of Jefferson is well documented so I will not go into that here. I also have to state that I have a curiosity about religion and spirituality without embracing any denomination or sect. This made the Jefferson Bible doubly appealing to me. It was an opportunity to get a glimpse of Jeffersons thoughts and beliefs as well as seeing Jesus in a different light. I greatly appreciate being able to read about Jesus removed from the rest of the Bible. This secularizing of Jesus will probably be viewed as blasphemous by some Christians but I found it to be most rewarding. It was great to just view Jesus as the wonderful moral teacher that he was without having some overbearing, self righteous religious fanatic screaming and ranting incoherently. This book brought me closer to Jesus simply by not having to listen to all the negatives trappings many of his so-called followers have tacked on to his message. This is a valuable book on both the philosophical and historical level. It should be read in colleges around the country. I gained a greater appreciation of both Jesus and Jefferson through reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: Jefferson's genius shines through!!
Review: If you want to see Jesus in his own words. You must read this. Jefferson applied reason and science to break the Gospels down to just that which is directly attributed to Jesus Christ, You'll be surprised at how much more you can learn from this book than from the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Jefferson's religious views.
Review: In addition to the edited text of the gospels, this book provides very useful insight from other sources to help us understand Jefferson's ideas.