212. Jefferson Bible
Thomas Jefferson, a central figure of the Enlightenment, had little time for what he viewed as the superstitious aspects of Christianity. In his retirement, Jefferson embarked on a private project of editing the Gospels, literally cutting and pasting selections into a pared-down version. He removed what he called “the corruptions of later times,” meaning anything having to do with the divinity of Jesus. No Magi, no miracles, no Last Supper, no resurrection. What’s left are the life and teachings—a code of morals, shorn of mystery, that ends with a sealed tomb.
His gospel—the actual title is The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth; he never referred to it as “the Jefferson Bible”—was forgotten for decades until the Smithsonian purchased it from Jefferson’s great-granddaughter. It was published, and a copy given to every new member of Congress from 1904 until the 1950s.
Jefferson compared his edits of the teachings of Jesus to diamonds rescued from dunghills. He wrote that his project proved he was “a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” Accused of being an atheist by his political rivals, he remained publicly mute about his personal theology, but his belief in religious liberty contributed to our principle of separation of church and state.
There is an irony in his admiration for Jesus’s “universal philanthropy, not only to kindred and friends, to neighbors and countrymen, but to all mankind, gathering all into one family, under the bonds of love.”[1]
Links:
The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth - full text (National Museum of American History)
Reading Thomas Jefferson’s Bible: The president preferred Jesus’s teachings to his supernatural acts—and edited his copy of the New Testament accordingly. - James Parker, The Atlantic, November 2020 (unlocked paywall)
Doubting Thomas: On Peter Manseau’s “The Jefferson Bible” - Ed Simon, Los Angeles Review of Books, November 6, 2022
Jefferson's Religious Beliefs - Monticello
How the Smithsonian Conserved the Jefferson Bible – Janice Stagnitto Ellis, Smithsonian Magazine, April 11, 2024
This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
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[1] Jefferson fathered six children, three girls and three boys, with his slave Sally Hemings, who was his late wife’s half-sister. Two of the girls died in early childhood; his daughter Harriet and his son Beverly were never legally freed but left Monticello in 1822 and were thereafter listed as runaways in Jefferson’s records. Both moved to Washington, passed as white, married white spouses and raised children who were never suspected of having African ancestry. Jefferson’s second son Madison Hemings, who worked as a slave on the plantation, was freed along with his brother Eston by Jefferson’s will. Sally herself was not freed by the will but was permitted by Jefferson’s daughter Martha Randolph to live out her life in Charlottesville with Madison and Eston. She died in 1835.
Madison recalled in his memoir that “we were free from the dread of having to be slaves all our lives long, and were measurably happy.” He added that Jefferson “was not in the habit of showing partiality or fatherly affection to us children,” and “was affectionate toward his white grandchildren.”
