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The Jefferson Bible The Life Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

Done with his official work for the day, Thomas Jefferson sat in the new presidential mansion in Washington in 1803 and opened his Bible--not to pray, but to cut. He scoured the text for Jesus' greatest teachings, sliced out his favorite portions, and glued them into an empty volume. He called it "The Philosophy of Jesus." That book was lost to history.In 1819, he started over and created a new version called "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth," commonly referred to now as the Jefferson Bible. This volume was kept largely secret and passed among Jeffersonâ€™s relatives until 1895, when it was discovered by the librarian at the Smithsonian. In 1904, it was published by Congress.What follows is, for the first time online, the complete Jefferson Bible--plus links to many of his key deletions. Youâ€™ll see that Jefferson cut out miracles and signs or declarations of Jesusâ€™ divinity. As you read through the Jefferson Bible, click on the little scissors icons [INSERT SAMPLE GIF]â€“ and youâ€™ll see what Jefferson deleted.Click here for more on the origins of the Jefferson Bible or on the controversial religious views of Jefferson. To discuss Jefferson or the Jefferson Bible, click here.

The
Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

Extracted Textually from the Gospels
Greek, Latin, French, and
English

By Thomas Jefferson

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