The Jefferson Bible: the life and morals of Jesus of Nazareth

Creator

Files

Document Type

Facsimile reproduction

Keywords

Bible, Jefferson Bible

Brief Description

This Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition, is an exact facsimile photographic reproduction, published in color in its complete form, based on the original copy in the Smithsonian collections.

Context

This work, whose official title is The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was the attempt of Thomas Jefferson to accurately reflect the true teachings of Jesus as he saw them. Jefferson did not believe in the divinity of Christ nor that He performed miracles; he saw Jesus as a great reformer and moral leader. Toward the end of his life, using multiple language extracts of the four Gospels, Jefferson cut and pasted together his own version. His goal was to eliminate what he felt were distortions in the Gospels by unlearned apostles who often misunderstood the teachings of Jesus. Thus he removed all the supernatural aspects, including miracles, as well as misinterpretations he perceived had been added by the Gospel writers. The result, he felt, best expressed the moral code of the teachings of Jesus. This work was never published during the lifetime of Jefferson, and in fact a printed version was not published until 1895 by the National Museum. The original was published in Washington, D.C., by the United States Government Printing Office in 1904.

Country or Place of Origin

United States

Language

English

Publication Date of the Original

1804

Publisher of the Reproduction

Smithsonian Books

City

Washington, DC

Date

2011

Note

changed publication date