The Jefferson Bible as it is formally titled was a book constructed by Thomas Jefferson in the latter years of his life by cutting and pasting numerous sections from various Bibles as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson, who had no desire to preach, refused to let his Bible beyond a circle of close friends, and it remained unpublished until 1895. Today, it is one of the most astonishing – if oblique – works of cultural and theological criticism. He was an author, statesman and third president of the United States – a deist, a believer in at best, a watchmaker god, one who did not take a personal interest in the goings-on of humanity.

About the Author:

Thomas Jefferson, (born April 13, 1743, Shadwell, Virginia, U.S. – died July 4, 1826, Monticello, Virginia, U.S.), draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nation’s first secretary of state (1789–94) and second vice president (1797–1801) and, as the third president (1801–09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. An early advocate of total separation of church and state, he also was the founder and architect of the University of Virginia and the most eloquent American proponent of individual freedom as the core meaning of the American Revolution.