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This section did not contain very many statements from Jefferson about orthodox Christianity, making it somewhat misleading.
Jefferson was raised in the [[Church of England]] at a time when it was the established church in Virginia and never formally left the [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal Church]], and attended church regularly near the end of his life. Despite that, at least one historian claims that Jefferson was merely a [[deism|deist]].<ref>David L. Holmes, ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers''.</ref> Conservative scholars such as [[David Barton]] point out how Jefferson was a [[Piety|pious]] orthodox Christian.<ref>Barton, David. ''The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson'' (2012, Thomas Nelson)</ref> Liberal publishing houses, such as Oxford University Press, University of Virginia Press, and Yale University Press, typically deny or downplay Jefferson's Christian beliefs.
Jefferson was raised in the [[Church of England]] at a time when it was the established church in Virginia and never formally left the [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal Church]], and attended church regularly near the end of his life. Despite that, at least one historian claims that Jefferson was merely a [[deism|deist]].<ref>David L. Holmes, ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers''.</ref> Conservative scholars such as [[David Barton]] point out how Jefferson was a [[Piety|pious]] orthodox Christian.<ref>Barton, David. ''The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson'' (2012, Thomas Nelson)</ref> Liberal publishing houses, such as Oxford University Press, University of Virginia Press, and Yale University Press, typically deny or downplay Jefferson's Christian beliefs.
Barton's views, however, have been accused of deception by conservative Christians who take Jefferson at his word with respect to religion.<ref>https://world.wng.org/2012/08/the_david_barton_controversy?</ref> Jefferson vehemently attacked Christianity, accusing the Christian God of being a "terrific character - cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust."<ref>http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl261.php</ref> He called Christianity "the most perverted system that ever shone on man"<ref>Letter to the Unitarian heretic Joseph Priestly. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-33-02-0336</ref> and said that he did "not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature." Christianity, according to Jefferson, was merely another religion "founded on fable and superstition." Jefferson argued that in the gospels, "we discover a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication."<ref>http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl261.php</ref> He denied the historicity and authenticity of the Scriptures, saying:
"The authors of the gospels were unlettered and ignorant men and the teachings of Jesus have come to us mutilated, misstated and unintelligible."<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=R8Z4CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=jefferson+The+authors+of+the+gospels+were+unlettered+and+ignorant+men+and+the+teachings+of+Jesus+have+come+to+us+mutilated,+misstated+and+unintelligible.%22&source=bl&ots=He8HlprFYm&sig=qBwKrB7qXHse6K0VsrcEXFkOlIA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVx72tw4_bAhXCq1kKHXtxDl8Q6AEISDAI#v=onepage&q=jefferson%20The%20authors%20of%20the%20gospels%20were%20unlettered%20and%20ignorant%20men%20and%20the%20teachings%20of%20Jesus%20have%20come%20to%20us%20mutilated%2C%20misstated%20and%20unintelligible.%22&f=false</ref>
Of the Apostles, Jefferson had a particular hatred for Paul, the author of most of the Books contained in the New Testament. "Of this band of dupes and impostors [the apostles], Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and firm corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus."<ref>http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/1559</ref>
Jefferson did not believe the words of Jesus or any other part of the Bible to be divinely inspired,<ref>[http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl261.htm Letter to William Short, August 4, 1820]</ref> but he considered Jesus a great moral teacher who created "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."<ref>http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/jefferson_m_03.html</ref> Believing that the doctrines of the historical Jesus had been greatly corrupted by ignorant and superstitious "pseudo-followers," Jefferson used a razor and a paste to assemble passages from the Synoptic Gospels into a new book commonly called the ''[[Jefferson Bible]]'', omitting references to divinity and miracles. However, he did not necessarily agree with everything that remained, writing, "I read [Jesus's doctrines] as I do those of other antient and modern moralists, with a mixture of approbation and dissent."<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(ws03101)) Letter to William Short, April 13, 1820]</ref>
Jefferson did not believe the words of Jesus or any other part of the Bible to be divinely inspired,<ref>[http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl261.htm Letter to William Short, August 4, 1820]</ref> but he considered Jesus a great moral teacher who created "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."<ref>http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/jefferson_m_03.html</ref> Believing that the doctrines of the historical Jesus had been greatly corrupted by ignorant and superstitious "pseudo-followers," Jefferson used a razor and a paste to assemble passages from the Synoptic Gospels into a new book commonly called the ''[[Jefferson Bible]]'', omitting references to divinity and miracles. However, he did not necessarily agree with everything that remained, writing, "I read [Jesus's doctrines] as I do those of other antient and modern moralists, with a mixture of approbation and dissent."<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(ws03101)) Letter to William Short, April 13, 1820]</ref>