Church History · 1820

The Jefferson Bible

Around 1820, Thomas Jefferson used a razor to cut verses out of the Gospels in four languages and paste them into his own book, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. He kept Jesus' moral teachings but left out the miracles and the resurrection. The original is at the Smithsonian.

Read it in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 15:14-17 Matthew 28:6 Matthew 5-7

The Jefferson Bible is a book Thomas Jefferson made for himself around 1820 by cutting verses out of the Gospels and pasting them in a new order. He called it The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Jefferson kept the teachings of Jesus that he admired, like the Sermon on the Mount, but he left out the virgin birth, the miracles and the resurrection. His book ends with Jesus laid in the tomb and the stone rolled across the door. The original is now owned by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

What Is the Jefferson Bible?

It is not a translation. It is a scrapbook. Jefferson took six copies of the New Testament in Greek, Latin, French and English, cut out the passages he wanted with a razor, and glued them side by side into a blank book in four columns. The finished volume is 84 pages, bound in red leather.

Jefferson wanted to pull out what he saw as the pure moral teaching of Jesus from what he believed later writers had added. In a letter to John Adams in 1813, he called the teachings of Jesus "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man." He admired Jesus deeply as a teacher. He did not believe Jesus was God or that He rose from the dead.

When Did Jefferson Make It?

Jefferson actually made two versions. The first came in 1804, while he was president. He called it The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, and he made it from two English New Testaments. That one was about 46 pages long, and it has been lost. Nobody knows where it went.

The second and better known version came after he retired. According to Monticello, he began it in late 1819 and likely finished it by the summer of 1820. Some timelines give 1813 as the date. That was really the year of his letter to Adams, not the book.

What Did Jefferson Leave Out?

Jefferson kept the parables, the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus' sayings on love and forgiveness. He kept many events of Jesus' life, including His arrest and crucifixion. But he removed anything he thought reason could not support. That meant no angels at the birth, no healings, no walking on water, no feeding of the five thousand and no empty tomb.

The result is a Jesus who teaches beautifully and then dies. The last scene is the burial. For Jefferson, that was the end of the story. For the first Christians, it was only the middle.

Was Thomas Jefferson a Christian?

This question has been argued for 200 years. Jefferson was raised in the Church of England and attended church through his life. He once wrote that he was a real Christian, meaning a follower of the teachings of Jesus. But he rejected the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus and the miracles. Most historians describe his views as close to Deism or to the Unitarians of his day.

Jefferson kept his religious views mostly private. He did not publish the book, and he showed it to few people. He believed religion was a matter between a person and God, which is also why he wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

How Did the Jefferson Bible Become Famous?

After Jefferson died in 1826, the book stayed in his family. In 1895 Cyrus Adler, librarian of the Smithsonian, bought it from Jefferson's great granddaughter, Carolina Randolph. In 1904 Congress approved printing copies, and for decades copies were given to new members of Congress. The Smithsonian later restored the fragile original and put it on display. Today you can buy cheap reprints and read it in an afternoon.

Why the Resurrection Matters for You Today

The Jefferson Bible is a fascinating piece of history, and it shows how much even skeptics admired Jesus. But it also shows what happens when we keep only the parts of Jesus we like. A Jesus who stays in the tomb can teach us how to live, but He cannot save us. The apostle Paul put it plainly.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:17

The real Gospels do not end with a stone across the door. They end with the stone rolled away and an angel telling the women some very good news.

He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. Matthew 28:6

Jesus did not leave us the option of calling Him only a good teacher. He claimed to be the Son of God and proved it by walking out of His grave. The moral teaching Jefferson loved is real, and it is best understood in light of the risen Lord who gave it.

Get Nate's Highlighting Guide Free

Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Questions People Ask

What is the Jefferson Bible?

It is a book Thomas Jefferson made around 1820 by cutting passages from the Gospels and pasting them in order. He titled it The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. It keeps Jesus' moral teachings but removes the miracles and the resurrection.

Why did Thomas Jefferson make his own Bible?

Jefferson admired Jesus as a moral teacher but did not believe in miracles or that Jesus was divine. He wanted to separate what he saw as Jesus' pure teaching from later additions. He made it for his own private use.

Where is the original Jefferson Bible?

The original is owned by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian bought it from Jefferson's great granddaughter in 1895. It has been restored and displayed at the National Museum of American History.

How does the Jefferson Bible end?

It ends with Jesus being buried and a great stone rolled to the door of the tomb. Jefferson left out the resurrection, so his version stops before Easter morning.

Sources

← The Second Great Awakening Why Most Protestant Bibles Dropped the Apocrypha →

See the whole Church History