| Today's Inconvenient Quote "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our creator." Thomas Jefferson, written in the front of his personal Bible |
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Jefferson defined "christian" differently than the Christian church does, and he was no more a Christian than my dog is... they both believe there's a "God" out there somewhere. Ole Tom didn't believe it was Jesus and my ole dog thinks it's me. They're BOTH wrong.
wv: redmo
yup, Jefferson would have redmo of the Bible if'n he hadn't cut all the supernatural parts out of it.
OMG I guess I erred
"Jefferson was a true friend of the Christian faith. But was he a true Christian? A nominal Christian – as demonstrated by his lifelong practice of attending worship services, reading the Bible, and following the moral principles of Christ – Jefferson was not, in my opinion, a genuine Christian. In 1813, after his public career was over, Jefferson rejected the deity of Christ. Like so many millions of church members today, he was outwardly religious, but never experienced the new birth that Jesus told Nicodemus was necessary to enter the kingdom of Heaven."
http://www.wnd.com/2002/06/14285/
Jefferson, like a lot of prominent men of the Enlightenment, was more of a Deist. He was a great admirer of Jesus as a moralist. The Jefferson Bible (I have a copy) is the Gospels with the supernatural stuff cut out (Jefferson cut those passages out physically) in order to demonstrate that very thing.
He was always respectful of Christianity as a personal faith, but he was unwilling to bow to the authority of Big Church™ establishments. He was roundly despised and denounced by them as a heretic and a tool of Satan. I think that was mainly due to the threat that "freedom of religion" posed to state-supported religions in terms of political power, authority, and finances.
Getting rid of old Europeanisms was difficult.
I always love the emotion Jefferson's faith and beliefs evoke.
I still like the blood watering the Liberty Tree....thing.
j_c_
