Thomas Jefferson And Religion

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most prominent founding fathers of our country.  He wrote the Declaration of Independence, was Secretary of State, and the third President of the United States.  Some have presented Jefferson as a devout Christian while others have presented him as an atheist who was hostile to religion.  So what was Jefferson's real view of religion?  

First of all Thomas Jefferson was not an orthodox Christian.  He cut the miracles of Christ out of his Bible.  Jefferson denied the virgin birth, the divinity of Christ, the miracles of Christ, and the resurrection.  Obviously Jefferson did not view the Bible as the literal Word of God without error.  He saw Jesus as a great teacher and moral example, he even compared him to Socrates.  Jefferson was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment with its great faith in human reason.  Thomas Jefferson was actually a deist and not a Christian or an atheist.  

In the public square Jefferson was a strong advocate for religious liberty.  Jefferson, Madison, and others worked with Bible believing Christians (especially Baptists) to oppose established religion.  In England and throughout Europe there had been established religions.  Those holding to a religious belief different than that of the state were often not tolerated and even persecuted.  Many at the time of the American Revolution feared that England would revert back to Roman Catholicism as it's official religion and enforce it on the colonies.  Religious freedom was one of the strongest motivating factors for the Revolution.  

In 1800 Thomas Jefferson ran against John Adams for president of the United States.  Some orthodox Christians supported Jefferson while others opposed him.  One of those who opposed Jefferson was Timothy Dwight (the grandson of Jonathan Edwards).  Dwight and others feared Jefferson would make America into an anti-Christian nation.  One of those who supported Jefferson was John Leland, a Baptist minister.  Leland and others saw Jefferson as an ally and a great advocate for religious liberty.  Ironically John Adams was a Unitarian who denied the doctrine of the Trinity.  So neither Jefferson or Adams was an orthodox Christian.  

As it turned out Jefferson won the election of 1800 and became the third president of the United States.  As president Thomas Jefferson showed no hostility to Christianity in the public square.  He allowed church services in federal buildings even attending services in the House of Representatives.  Jefferson did not think this violated the separation of church and state.  Jefferson himself was no Christian but he thought the principles of Christianity would help sustain the American Republic.  Interestingly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826 the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.