The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (The Jefferson Bible) E-Book

Thomas Jefferson

• Herausgeber: Phoemixx Classics Ebooks
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 146

Beschreibung

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (The Jefferson Bible) Thomas Jefferson - In 1804 Thomas Jefferson decided to study the gospels to see if he could distill the essence of Jesus' teachings into a concise book that could be quickly read and easily understood. This volume is the result, offering valuable insights into the teachings of Jesus Christ and into the mind and beliefs of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson used a razor to cut the sections where Jesus was teaching out and then he pasted them all together into a coherent narrative. In a sense this book is a precursor to the red letter editions of the bible emphasizing the teaching of Jesus.

Leseprobe

Thomas Jefferson

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (The Jefferson Bible)

PUBLISHER NOTES:

Take our Free

Quick Quiz and Find Out Which

Best Side Hustle is ✓Best for You.

✓ VISIT OUR WEBSITE:

→LYFREEDOM.COM ← ← CLICK HERE ←

Preface

In 1803, while "overwhelmed with other business," Mr. Jefferson cut from the evangelists such passages as he believed would best present the ethical teaching of Jesus, and "arranged them, on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time or subject." He called it "The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, extracted from the account of his life and doctrines, as given by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; being an abridgment of the New Testament for the use of the Indians, unembarrassed with matters of fact or faith beyond the level of their comprehension." In a letter to his friend, Mr. Charles Thompson, after describing this work, he said: "If I had time I would add to my little book the Greek, Latin and French texts in columns, side by side." Some time afterwards he carried out the design thus expressed, giving the texts in the four languages, "in a handsome morocco-bound volume, labeled on the back 'Morals of Jesus.'" This is the volume called "The Jefferson Bible," which is now owned by the Government, and the publication of which has been recently ordered by Congress. While this volume was still in the possession of Mr. Jefferson's oldest grandson, Colonel Thomas Jefferson Randolph, an accurate copy of its table of contents was made, and from that copy the English text is reproduced in the following pages. As a fit introduction to it, a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, and a comparison of the doctrines of Jesus with those of others, are published, giving, perhaps, the fullest expression of his religious views ever made by Mr. Jefferson himself.

A Table

Of the texts from the Evangelists employed in this narrative, and of the order of their arrangement.

Luke ii. 1-7: Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born.

21, 39: He is circumcised and named, and they return to Nazareth.

40, 42-48, 51, 52: At 12 years of age he accompanies his parents to Jerusalem and returns.

L. iii. 1, 2; Mk. i. 4; Mt. iii. 4, 5, 6; John baptizes In Jordan.

Mt. iii. 13: Jesus is baptized. L. iii. 23: At 30 years of age.

J. ii. 12-16: Drives the traders out of the temple.

J iii. 22; Mt. iv. 12; Mk. vi. 17-28: He baptizes, but retires into Galilee on the death of John.

Mk. i. 21, 22: He teaches in the Synagogue.

Mt. xii. 1-5, 9-12; Mk. ii. 27; Mt. xii. 14, 15: Explains the Sabbath

L. vi. 12-17: Call of his disciples.

Mt. v. 1-12; L. vi. 24, 25, 26; Mt. v. 13-47; L. vi. 34, 35, 36; Mt. vi. 1-34; vii. 1, 2; L. vi. 38; Mt. vii. 3-20; xii. 35, 36, 37; vii. 24-29; The sermon on the mount.

Mt. viii. 1; Mk. vi. 6; Mt. xi. 28, 29, 30: Exhorts.

L. vii. 36-46: A woman anointeth him.

Mk. iii. 31-35; L. xii. 1-7, 13-15: Precepts.

L. xii. 16-21: Parable of the rich man.

22-48, 54-59; L. xiii. 1-5: Precepts.

L. xiii. 6-9: Parable of the fig tree.

L. xi. 37-46, 52, 53, 54: Precepts.

Mt. xiii. 1-9; Mk. iv. 10; Mt. xiii. 18-23: Parable of the sower.

Mk. iv. 21, 22, 23: Precepts. Mt. xiii. 24-30, 36-52: Parable of the tares.

Mk. iv. 26-34; L. ix. 57-62; L. v. 27-5:29!29}; Mk. ii. 15-17: Precepts.

L. v. 36-39: Parable of new wine in old bottles.

Mt. xiii. 53-57: A prophet hath no honor in his own country.

Mt. ix. 36; Mk. vi. 7; Mt. x. 5, 6, 9-18, 23, 26-31; Mk. vi. 12, 30: Mission Instructions, return of apostles.

J. vii. 1; Mk. vii 1-5, 14-24; Mt. xviii. 1-4, 7-9, 12-17, 21-35: Precepts.

Mt. xviii. 23-35: Parable of the wicked servant.

L. x. 1-8, 10-12: Mission of the seventy.

J. vii. 2-16, 19-26, 32, 43-53: The feast of the tabernacles.

J. viii. 1-11: The woman taken In adultery.

J. ix. 1, 2, 3: To be born blind no proof of sin.

J. x. 1-5, 11-14, 16: The good shepherd.

L. x. 25-37: Love God and thy neighbor; parable of the Samaritan.

L. xi. 1-13: Form of prayer.

L. xiv. 1-6: The Sabbath.

7-24: The bidden to a feast.

28-32: Precepts.

L. xv. 1-32: Parables of the lost sheep and prodigal son.

L. xvi. 1-15: Parable of the unjust steward.

18-31: Parable of Lazarus.

L. xvii. 1-4, 7-10, 20, 26-36: Precepts to be always ready.

L. xviii. 1-14: Parables of the widow and judge, the pharisee and publican.

L. x. 38-42; Mt. xix. 1-26: Precepts.

Mt. xx. 1-16: Parable of the laborers in the vineyard.

L. xix. 1-28: Zaccheus, and the parable of the talents.

Mt. xxi. 1-3, 6-8, 10; J. xii. 19-24; Mt. xxi. 17: Goes to Jerusalem and Bethany.

Mk. xi. 12, 15-19: The traders cast out from the temple.

Mk. xi. 27; Mt. xxi. 27-31: Parable of the two sons.

Mt. xxi. 33; Mk. xii, 1-9; Mt. xxi. 45, 46: Parable of the vineyard and husbandman.

Mt. xxii. 1-14: Parable of the king and wedding.

15-33: Tribute, marriage, resurrection.

Mk. xii. 28-31; Mt. xxii. 40; Mk. xii. 32, 33: The two commandments.

Mt. xiii. 1-33: Precepts, pride, hypocrisy, swearing.

Mk. xii. 41-44: The widow's mite.

Mt. xxiv. 1, 2, 16-21, 32, 33, 36-39, 40-44: Jerusalem and the day of judgment.

45-51: The faithful and wise servant.

Mt. xxv. 1-13: Parable of the ten virgins.

14-30: Parable of the talents.

L. xxi. 34-36; Mt. xxv. 31-46: The day of judgment. Mk. xiv. 1-8: A woman anointeth him.

Mt. xxvi. 14-16: Judas undertakes to point out Jesus.

17-20; L. xxii. 24-27; J. xiii. 2, 4-17, 21-26, 31, 34, 35; Mt. xxvi. 31, 33; L. xxii. 33, 34; Mt. xxvi. 35-45; Precepts to his disciples, washes their feet, trouble of mind and prayer.

J. xviii. 1-3; Mt. xxvi. 48-50: Judas conducts the officers to Jesus.

J. xviii. 4-8; Mt. xxvi. 50-52; 55, 56; Mk. xiv. 51, 52; Mt. xxvi. 57; J. xviii. 15, 16, 17, 18; J. xviii. 25, 26, 27; Mt. xxvi. 75; J. xviii. 19-23; Mk. xiv. 55-61; L. xxii. 67, 68, 70; Mk. xiv. 63-65: He is arrested and carried before Caiaphas, the high-priest, and is condemned.

J. xviii. 28-31, 33-38; L. xxiii. 5; Mt. xxvii. 13: Is then carried to Pilate.

L. xxiii. 6-12: Who sends him to Herod.

L. xxiii. 13-16; Mt. xxvii. 15-23, 26: Receives him back, scourges and delivers him to execution.

Mt. xxvii. 27, 29-31, 3-8; L. xxiii. 26-32; J. xix. 17-24; Mt. xxvii. 39-43; L. xxiii. 39-41, 34; J. xix. 25-27; Mt. xxvii. 46-50, 55, 56: His crucifixion, death and burial.

J. xix. 31-34, 38-42; Mt. xxvii. 60: His burial.

Facsimile Page From Jefferson's Bible

Religious Views Of Thomas Jefferson

Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life; if that has been honest and dutiful to society, the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.

—Thomas Jefferson.

In a letter to his daughter, written in 1803, Mr. Jefferson said: "A promise made to a friend some years ago, but executed only lately, has placed my religious creed on paper. I have thought it just that my family, by possessing this, should be enabled to estimate the libels published against me on this, as on every other possible subject." The "religious creed" to which he referred was a comparison of the doctrines of Jesus with those of others, prepared in fulfillment of a promise made to Dr. Benjamin Rush. This paper, with the letter to Dr. Rush which accompanied it. is a fit introduction to the "Jefferson Bible."

Washington, April 21, 1803.

Dear Sir: In some of the delightful conversations with you, in the evenings of 1798-99, and which served as an anodyne to the afflictions of the crisis through which our country was then laboring, the Christian religion was sometimes our topic; and I then promised you that one day or other, I would give you my views of it. They are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from that Anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence, and believing he never claimed any other.

At the short intervals since these conversations, when I could justifiably abstract my mind from public affairs, this subject has been under my contemplation; but the more I considered it, the more it expanded beyond the measure of either my time or Information. In the moment of my late departure from Monticello, I received from Dr. Priestly his little treatise of "Socrates and Jesus Compared." This being a section of the general view I had taken of the field, it became a subject of reflection while on the road, and unoccupied otherwise. The result was to arrange in my mind a syllabus, or outline, of such an estimate of the comparative merits of Christianity, as I wished to see executed by some one of more leisure and information for the task than myself. This I now send you, as the only discharge of my promise I can probably ever execute. And in confiding it to you, I know it will not be exposed to the malignant perversions of those who make every word from me a text for new misrepresentations and calumnies.

I am moreover averse to the communication of my religious tenets to the public; because it would countenance the presumption of those who have endeavored to draw them before that tribunal, and to seduce public opinion to erect itself into that inquisition over the rights of conscience which the laws have so justly proscribed. It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself to resist invasions of it in the case of others, or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own. It behooves him, too, in his own case, to give no example of concession, betraying the right of independent opinion by answering questions of faith, which the laws have left between God and himself.

Accept my affectionate salutations.

*    *    *    *    *    *

SYLLABUS OF AN ESTIMATE OF THE DOCTRINES OF JESUS, COMPARED WITH THOSE OF OTHERS.

In a comparative view of the ethics of the enlightened nations of antiquity, of the Jews, and of Jesus, no notice should be taken of the corruptions of reason among the ancients, to wit, the idolatry and superstition of the vulgar, nor of the corruptions of Christianity by the learned among its professors. Let a just view be taken of the moral principles inculcated by the most esteemed of the sects of ancient philosophy, or of their individuals; particularly Pythagoras, Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca, Antoninus.

I. PHILOSOPHERS.

1. Their precepts related chiefly to ourselves, and the government of those passions which, unrestrained, would disturb our tranquility of mind. In this branch of philosophy they were really great.

2. In developing our duties to others, they were short and defective. They embraced indeed the circles of kindred and friends, and inculcated patriotism, or the love of country in the aggregate, as a primary obligation: towards our neighbors and countrymen they taught justice, but scarcely viewed them as within the circle of benevolence. Still less have they inculcated peace, charity, and love to our fellow-men, or embraced with benevolence the whole family of mankind.

II. JEWS.

1. Their system was Deism, that is, the belief in one only God; but their ideas of him and of his attributes were degrading and injurious.

2. Their ethics were not only imperfect, but often irreconcilable with the sound dictates of reason and morality, as they respect intercourse with those around us; and repulsive and anti-social as respecting other nations. They needed reformation, therefore, in an eminent degree.

III. JESUS.

In this state of things among the Jews, Jesus appeared. His parentage was obscure; his condition poor; his education null; his natural endowments great; his life correct and innocent. He was meek, benevolent, patient, firm, disinterested, and of the sublimest eloquence. The disadvantages under which his doctrines appear are remarkable.

1. Like Socrates and Epictetus, he wrote nothing himself.

2. But he had not, like them, a Xenophon or an Arrian to write for him. I name not Plato, who only used the name of Socrates to cover the whimsies of his own brain.

On the contrary, all the learned of his country, entrenched in its power and riches, were opposed to him, lest his labors should undermine their advantages; and the committing to writing of his life and doctrines fell on unlettered and ignorant men; who wrote, too, from memory, and not till long after the transactions had passed.

3. According to the ordinary fate of those who attempt to enlighten and reform mankind, he fell an early victim to the jealousy and combination of the altar and the throne, at about 33 years of age, his reason having not yet attained the maximum of its energy, nor the course of his preaching, which was but of three years at most, presented occasions for developing a complete system of morals.

4. Hence the doctrines which he really delivered were defective, as a whole, and fragments only of what he did deliver have come to us mutilated, misstated, and often unintelligible.

5. They have been still more disfigured by the corruptions of schismatizing followers, who have found an interest in sophisticating and perverting the simple doctrines he taught, by engrafting on them the mysticisms of a Grecian Sophist (Plato), frittering them into subtilties and obscuring them with jargon, until they have caused good men to reject the whole in disgust, and to view Jesus himself as an impostor. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, a system of morals is presented to us which, if filled up in the true style and spirit of the rich fragments he left us, would be the most perfect and sublime that has ever been taught by man. The question of his being a member of the Godhead, or in direct communication with it, claimed for him by some of his followers, and denied by others, is foreign to the present view, which is merely an estimate of the intrinsic merits of his doctrines.

1. He corrected the Deism of the Jews, confirming them in their belief of one only god, and giving them juster notions of his attributes and government.

2. His moral doctrines, relating to kindred and friends, were more pure and perfect than those of the most correct of the philosophers, and greatly more so than those of the Jews; and they went far beyond both in inculcating universal philanthrophy, not only to kindred and friends, to neighbors and countrymen, but to all mankind, gathering all into one family, under the bonds of love, charity, peace, common wants and common aids. A development of this head will evince the peculiar superiority of the system of Jesus over all others.

3. The precepts of philosophy and of the Hebrew code laid hold of action only. He pushed his scrutinies into the heart of man; erected his tribunal in the region of his thought, and purified the waters at the fountain head.

4. He taught emphatically the doctrine of a future state, which was either doubted or disbelieved by the Jews; and wielded it with efficacy as an important incentive, supplementary to the other motives to moral conduct.

I, too, have made a wee-little book from the same materials (The Gospels) which I call the Philosophy of Jesus. It is a paradigma of his doctrines, made by cutting the texts out of the book and arranging them on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time or subject. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen. It is a document in proof that I am a REAL CHRISTIAN, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists, who call ME infidel and THEMSELVES Christians and preachers of the Gospel, while they draw all their characteristic dogmas from what its author never said nor saw. They have compounded from the heathen mysteries a system beyond the comprehension of man, of which the great reformer of the vicious ethics and deism of the Jews, were he to return on earth, would not recognize one feature.—Jefferson to Mr. Charles Thompson.

1. Joseph And Mary Go To Bethlehem, Where Jesus Is Born

AND it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing ways first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.