Thomas Jefferson’s Religion

I recently picked up a religious biography of Thomas Jefferson I found on the new book table in the New College library. It turns out the book is eleven years old, but I still found it interesting. I thought I would share a few thoughts that stuck out to me:

• Jefferson was a Deist, but not the sort of Deist that thinks “God” created the world and then left it to be. Instead, he firmly believed that “God” was superintending Nature at every moment.  Thus, he was different from a number of Deists of his era.
• Jefferson basically tried to sculpt his own religion, never allowing himself to be labeled. The closest affinity he had, however, was with the Unitarians (something he and John Adams agreed on). Jefferson was even persuaded that Reason would prevail and virtually the whole country would be Unitarian within a generation.
• The highest principle to Jefferson was, basically, Reason. The Trinity was impossible and foolish, for example, because it did not conform to reason. He thought that any mystery in religion was merely perpetuated by priests and the like who needed to keep their jobs.
• Jefferson had no reason to listen to Paul, and thought the epistle of Revelation was pointless.
• He made his own New Testament, “The Life and Morals of Jesus,” that was more or less a pastiche of pericopes from Matthew and Luke, with an occasional Marcan or Johannine reference. This “purer” form of the gospels was devoid of any supernaturalism, claims of divinity, or talk of forgiveness of sins. These were later additions by the unlearned disciples that basically distorted Jesus’ message, in Jefferson’s view. Jefferson thought the true sayings of Jesus were “as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill.” Perhaps this would be a fitting motto for the Jesus Seminar folks.
• A quote on religion from Jefferson to Unitarian minister Thomas Parker: “my fundamental principle would be the reverse of Calvin’s, that we are saved by our good works which are within our power, and not by our faith which is not within our power.”

I’ll refrain from making too many sweeping generalizations about Jefferson’s “God.” But, it should be clear that, while he was a brilliant man, he is not someone we should look to for a great deal of insight into Christianity or the Bible.