«The most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man»: Debates on the jefferson bible

Abstract

The article discusses the origins, content, and meaning of two editions of the New Testament constructed by Thomas Jefferson in 1804 and 1819. He had launched these editions in accordance with his views on the interrelatedness of religion and reason, of the freedom of conscience, and the right to interpret the New Testament through the prism of one's own life experience. The article analyses the sources of Jefferson's perception of Christianity, the influence of the thinkers of the European Enlightenment upon him, as well as contemporary scholarly research on The Jefferson Bible. The author indicates that the religious views of Thomas Jefferson remain the subject of a fierce debate, which expresses a variety of positions: from labeling him as an atheist to imaging him as a deeply religious person. The intensity of these discussions proves that the issue of whether Jefferson could be regarded a Christian and in what sense, as well as what he himself meant by that, goes far beyond the specifics of the historical period of the formation of the USA. According to the author, Jefferson's interpretation of the New Testament is a remarkable example of the conflict between individual and institutional religiosity that manifested itself in the Enlightenment and escalates today. Jefferson's interpretations prove that there are still no simple answers to the critical inquiry Christianity faced over two centuries ago.