The Jefferson Bible: The life and morals of Jesus of Nazareth - Softcover

Jefferson, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807077011 ISBN 13: 9780807077016

Publisher: Beacon Press, 1989

Synopsis

In the early nineteenth century, Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, conceived the idea of extracting a gospel purified of what he saw as extraneous philosophical, mythological, and theological elements. To do so, he took verses from the four canonical gospels and arranged them into a single narrative, focusing on the actual words of Jesus. This work was never published during Jefferson's lifetime but was inherited by his grandson and printed for the first time in the early twentieth century. The original bound manuscript, popularly referred to as The Jefferson Bible, is held by the United States National Museum in Washington.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Akashic Books presents a thought-provoking series of early writings from United States Presidents, starting this season with George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, and moving chronologically forward. Each slim book offers an introduction and additional commentary by a groundbreaking contemporary writer. This series is unlike any other Presidential commentaries in print, and is characterized by a critical viewpoint that will provide a counterpoint to the more staid analyses that have traditionally accompanied Presidential writings.

From the Inside Flap:

Thomas Jefferson believed that the pure-principled teachings of Jesus should have been separated from the dogma and abuse of organized religion of the day. This led him to recast, by cutting and pasting from the gospels, a new narrative of the life and teachings of Jesus.

About this edition

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0807077011
• ISBN 13: 9780807077016
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 171