Sergeant Cat reviewed The Jefferson Bible by Thomas Jefferson
Always heard about it, finally read it
4 stars
I'd heard about the Jefferson Bible repeatedly over the past 10 years but never got around to actually checking it out. I'm glad I did. It was pretty interesting.
It's not exactly new content, of course. It's just Jefferson's copy/paste of what he thought Jesus actually said and did. There's some repetition in what he chose. It's been a good long while since I read the New Testament so I'd have to double-check to be sure, but I think he pulled bits and pieces from Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John to form his own more coherent and more consistent narrative.
I forget where I read it, but I read that many Christians somehow put all four narratives together into one narrative in their head and just even out the rough spots and contradictions subconsciously. It becomes one story. That's probably what Jefferson is doing here, but some of what he …
I'd heard about the Jefferson Bible repeatedly over the past 10 years but never got around to actually checking it out. I'm glad I did. It was pretty interesting.
It's not exactly new content, of course. It's just Jefferson's copy/paste of what he thought Jesus actually said and did. There's some repetition in what he chose. It's been a good long while since I read the New Testament so I'd have to double-check to be sure, but I think he pulled bits and pieces from Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John to form his own more coherent and more consistent narrative.
I forget where I read it, but I read that many Christians somehow put all four narratives together into one narrative in their head and just even out the rough spots and contradictions subconsciously. It becomes one story. That's probably what Jefferson is doing here, but some of what he has in there doesn't even look familiar.
I wonder if it's because, with so much time having passed since I last read the NT, that I'm coming at it from such a different perspective now.
Anyway, it was a short read and worthwhile for the novelty and the religious and historical significance.
