| − | Jefferson was keenly interested in religion. Although he 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]], he has been described by numerous biographers and historians as a [[deism|deist]].<ref>David L. Holmes, ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers''</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 was keenly interested in religion. He 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 who claims that Obama is a Christian nevertheless claims that Jefferson was merely a [[deism|deist]].<ref>David L. Holmes, ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers'', despite describing Obama as a Christian.[http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/mar/25/book-festival-wraps-session-presidents-faith-ar-1793519/]</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> |
| | In an 1803 letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jefferson declared that "I am a Christian," though his view of Christianity was different from most: | | In an 1803 letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jefferson declared that "I am a Christian," though his view of Christianity was different from most: |