Talk:Jefferson Bible

/Archive 1

Should the title be changed to The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth ?

Shouldn't the title be the title given by the author? (99.165.193.88 (talk) 01:01, 2 August 2010 (UTC))

Unreferenced, highly controversial statements

"In essence, Thomas Jefferson, along with many other founding fathers, did not believe in Jesus's divinity, the Trinity, resurrection, miracles, or any other supernatural aspect described in the bible"

This is such a swingeing statement, it seems highly biased. I've added a request for a reference, but to be honest I think it should be removed until it's assertions have references. 80.229.242.179 18:40, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

• As I recall from reading about it long ago, he was accused of those "heresies", but he denied those accusations. Wahkeenah 18:43, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
  • If you have the reference Wahkeenah, that might help clear this up 80.229.242.179 18:46, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
    • It was probably something on the History Channel. Wahkeenah 19:14, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
• It says something about the evolution of American society, though, that he would get complaints about alleged agnosticism in his day, while his hypocritical ownership of slaves was apparently not seriously questioned; and nowadays, it's pretty much the other way around. Wahkeenah 18:45, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
  • Not 100% sure how agnosticism & slave ownership are hypocritical - all the important emancipators were Christians I think
    • I mean that he was criticized in his day for being insufficiently religious but not so much for being a slaveowner, and nowadays he's criticized for being a slaveowner but not so much for being insufficiently religious. The hypocrisy has to do with championing freedom while still holding people as "property". Wahkeenah 19:14, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
      • I find it doubly amazing that Jefferson is presently depicted as rather irreligious when he is responsible much for the success of the founding of the trans-denominational University of Virginia and the congregation held in the Congressional building and the Treasury with much of his own personal attendance despite weather and travel time that about puts me to shame. Some of many accounts can be found here at the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06-2.html.

And also: http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=90 In addition, Jefferson had the slave trade stopped, and advocated having the slaves freed while he had political adversaries that accused him of improprieties with slaves. Some of his writings concerning freeing the slaves are: "The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other… And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: That his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference!" Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1781-1782) "Nothing is more certain written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them. It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation and deportation peaceably and in such slow degree as that evil will wear off insensibly, and their place be pari passu filled up by free white laborers." Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson (1781) So those who seem to be inclined to impute the sin of slavery upon Jefferson as being utterly at fault and culpable for the whole affair sure do a disservice to the facts. It begins to sound like a bashing-the-Founding-Fathers ploy to justify some other nefarious end. In addition, indentured servitude was common where people worked off their fair for coming to America not much different than a conditional training employment contract or taking out a loan, the difference being working of your debt with one company. But you sure do not here about the "evils" of that, now do we? RTHJr (talk) 06:41, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

This also needs a reference:

• was an attempt [...] to glean the teachings of Jesus from the Christian Gospels

I always thought the JB was his attempt to evangelise more widely to people who find "supernatural aspects" difficult 80.229.242.179 18:51, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

In essence, Thomas Jefferson did not believe in Jesus' divinity, the Trinity, the resurrection, miracles, or any other supernatural aspect described in the Bible. So suck it, fagits! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.252.59.91 (talk) 05:53, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

• "references to the Trinity [...] are also absent from the Jefferson Bible."

This statement seems to imply there are references to the Trinity in canonical Bible(s). 70.157.130.121 (talk) 20:48, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Unbalanced article

The criticisms section seems to make this article very much POV/unbalanced, particularly given the criticizer doesn't appear to have read the text given the "whatever it was he did" phrase. I recommend the inclusion of material discussing the reasons why Jefferson created this bible, and substitution of cogent criticism for the rather vapid current criticism section.--Xris0 (talk) 23:32, 19 October 2010 (UTC)