The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

by Thomas Jefferson

Overview

We must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus...There will be remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.

Featuring an introduction by Pulitzer Prize nominee Forrest Church, this reissue of The Jefferson Bible offers extraordinary insight into the logic of Thomas Jefferson and the Gospel of Jesus. Working in the White House in 1804, Jefferson set out to edit the Gospels in order to uncover the essence of true religion in the simple story of the life of Jesus. The president was convinced that the authentic message of Jesus could be found only by extracting from the Gospels Jesus' message of absolute love and service, which was not dependent on the annunciation, virgin birth, or even the resurrection. Completed in 1819, this little book is the remarkable result of Jefferson's efforts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781911405924
Publisher:	Aziloth Books
Publication date:	08/30/2019
Pages:	88
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.18(d)

About the Author

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president of the United States, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the founder of the University of Virginia. Among his proudest achievements was his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, passed by the General Assembly of Virginia in 1786, which became the first law of its kind in the United States. Also a noted architect and naturalist, Jefferson designed and built his home, Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Forrest Church (1948-2009) served almost three decades as senior minister and was Minister of Public Theology of All Souls, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in New York City. He was educated at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in early church history. He wrote or edited twenty-five books, including Life Lines, Lifecraft, The American Creed, Freedom from Fear, So Help Me God, Love & Death, and The Cathedral of the World. 

During Church’s tenure at the congregation, All Souls flourished and its membership more than tripled. With almost 1,500 members, All Souls is one of the largest congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association today. As All Souls grew, so too did Church’s prominence as a public voice for Unitarian Universalism and for social justice. He was a strong proponent of both religious and political liberalism. In 1985, he led All Souls in learning about AIDS and providing direct services to AIDS sufferers. New York reporter Bernice Kanner wrote that year, “The mobilization of All Souls was among the first religious responses to the disease.” 

Church died on September 24, 2009, following a three-year battle with esophageal cancer, at the age of sixty-one. The staff of Beacon Press mourns the passing of an acclaimed author, a dear friend, and a long-time supporter of our work.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

A Table

Religious Views of Thomas Jefferson

THE LIFE AND MORALS OF JESUS OF NAZARETH

I. Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem, Where Jesus is Born.

II. He is Circumcised and Named and they Return to Nazareth.

III At 12 Years of Age He Accompanies his Parents to Jerusalem & Returns.

IV. John Baptizes in Jordan.

V. Jesus is Baptized at 30 Years of Age.

VI. Drives the Traders Out of the Temple

VII. He Baptizes, but Retires into Galilee on the Death of John.

VIII. He Teaches in the Synagogue.

IX. Explains the Sabbath

X. Call of His Disciples.

XI. The Sermon on the Mount.

XII. Exhorts.

XIII. A Woman Annointeth Him.

XIV Precepts.

XV. Parable of the Rich Man.

XVI. Precepts.

XVII. Parable of the Fig Tree.

XVIII. Precepts.

XIX. Parable of the Sower.

XX. Precepts.

XXI. Parable of the Tares.

XXII. Precepts.

XXIII. Parable of New Wine in Old Bottles.

XXIV. A Prophet Hath no Honor in his Own Country.

XXV. Mission Instructions, Return of Apostles.

XXVI. Precepts.

XXVII. Parable of the Wicked Servant.

XXVIII. Mission of the Seventy.

XXIX. The Feast of the Tabernacles.

XXX. The Woman Taken in Adultery.

XXXI. To be Born Blind No Proof of Sin.

XXXII. The Good Shepherd.

XXXIII. Love God and Thy Neighbour; Parable of the Samaritan.

XXXIV. Form of Prayer.

XXXV. The Sabbath.

XXXVI. The Bidden to a Feast.

XXXVII. Precepts.

XXXVIII. Parables of the Lost Sheep and Prodigal Son.

XXXIX. Parable of the Unjust Steward.

XL. Parable of Lazarus.

XLI. Precepts to be Always Ready.

XLII. Parables of the Widow and Judge, the Pharisee and Publican.

XLIII. Precepts.

XLIV. Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard.

XLV. Zacchaeus, and the Parable of the Talents.

XLVI. Goes to Jerusalem and Bethany.

XLVII. The Traders Cast Out from the Temple.

XLVIII. Parable of the Two Sons.

XLIX. Parable of the Vineyard and Husbandmen.

L. Parable of the King and the Wedding.

LI. Tribute, Marriage, Resurrection.

LII. The Two Commandments.

LIII. Precepts, Pride, Hypocrisy, Swearing.

LIV. The Widow’s Mite

LV. Jerusalem and the Day of Judgment.

LVI. The Faithful and Wise Servant.

LVII. Parable of the Ten Virgins.

LVIII. Parable of the Talents.

LIX. The Day of Judgment.

LX. A Woman Anointeth Him.

LXI. Judas Undertakes to Point Out Jesus.

LXII. Precepts to His Disciples, Washes their Feet. Trouble of Mind & Prayer.

LXIII. Judas Conducts the Officers to Jesus.

LXIV. He is Arrested and Carried Before Caiaphas,and is Condemned.

LXV. Is then Carried to Pilate.

LXVI. Who Sends Him to Herod.

LXVII. Receives Him Back, Scourges and Delivers Him to Execution.

LXVIII. His Crucifixion, Death, and Burial.

LXIX. His Burial.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"[A] fascinating document, telling us a great deal about a great eighteenth-century mind and its world." —-Charles S. Adams, Religious Studies Review

Editorial Reviews

Religion in America [gained] something unique from Jefferson. . . . His Jesus was a figure fitted for the Enlightenment, rational but not divine.—Gustav Niebuhr, New York Times

"The Founding Father's treatment of the Bible was radical. . . . Today, historians such as Yale University's Jaroslav Pelikan are struck by the project's 'sheer audacity' . . . Jefferson's Bible is a curious sidelight on an ever-intriguing figure, whose image has become more controversial in recent years."—Richard N. Ostling, Associated Press

"Gives us a preaching Jesus of distinctly human dimensions, without miracles or resurrection. [A] fascinating document, telling us a great deal about a great eighteenth-century mind and its world." —Charles S. Adams, Religious Studies Review

"These excerpts from the four Gospels are among the most interesting and compelling in all of the Scripture. They emphasize Jesus' ethical lessons of love, reverence, forbearance, reproachment, repentance, and forgiveness." —Garrett Ward Sheldon, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

From the Publisher