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04 October 2014

Review: THE JEFFERSON BIBLE by Thomas Jefferson

Yes, that Thomas Jefferson.

After his presidency, Jefferson took a razor blade to the New Testament, cutting out all of the supernatural elements. About 75 years after his death Congress published the result under Jefferson's title, The Life and Morals of Jesus Christ. It has simply become known as the Jefferson Bible.

There have been many attempts to "de-mythologize" the life of Jesus, to use Emil Brunner's word. Jefferson's was one of the boldest; he just cut out what he didn't like.

Unfortunately for Thomas Jefferson, it doesn't work that way. You can't just keep what you like of the Bible and threw the rest away. The Bible is a single book. Someone once said that there's a reason our Bibles are leatherbound and not loose-leaf. Jefferson tried to make a Jesus skeptics could believe in, but he ended up just writing a Jesus in whom no one could believe.

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