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He described the "roguery of others of His disciples",
He described the "roguery of others of His disciples",
[http://books.google.ca/books?id=1mIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=roguery+of+others+of+His+disciples&source=web&ots=TIEu82XIx7&sig=KHwY8G0sRyOcrFhbdLcZhVRPOz8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
[http://books.google.ca/books?id=1mIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=roguery+of+others+of+His+disciples&source=web&ots=TIEu82XIx7&sig=KHwY8G0sRyOcrFhbdLcZhVRPOz8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result]
|title=The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography, Correspondency
|title=The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography, Correspondency
and called them a "band of dupes and impostors" describing the Apostle Paul as the "first corrupter of the doctrines of [[Jesus]]", and wrote of "palpable interpolations and falsifications". He also described the [[Book of Revelation]] to be "merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherences of our own nightly dreams". [http://books.google.ca/books?id=1mIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA395&lpg=PA395&dq=no+more+worthy+nor+capable+of+explanation+than+the+incoherences+of+our+own+nightly+dreams&source=web&ots=TIEu82YEvb&sig=ok41qLJhgmTzlwg5njYFT09F1-4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result]
and called them a "band of dupes and impostors" describing the Apostle Paul as the "first corrupter of the doctrines of [[Jesus]]", and wrote of "palpable interpolations and falsifications". He also described the [[Book of Revelation]] to be "merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherences of our own nightly dreams". [http://books.google.ca/books?id=1mIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA395&lpg=PA395&dq=no+more+worthy+nor+capable+of+explanation+than+the+incoherences+of+our+own+nightly+dreams&source=web&ots=TIEu82YEvb&sig=ok41qLJhgmTzlwg5njYFT09F1-4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result]
Jefferson was raised in the [[Church of England]] at a time when it was the established church in Virginia and only denomination funded by Virginia tax money. Avery Dulles] a leading Catholic theologian reports, "In his college years at William and Mary Jefferson came to admire [[Francis Bacon]], [[Isaac Newton]], and [[John Locke]] as three great paragons of wisdom. Under the influence of several professors he converted to the [[Deism]]."[http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0501/articles/dulles.htm] Dulles concludes:
Jefferson was raised in the [[Church of England]] at a time when it was the established church in Virginia and only denomination funded by Virginia tax money. Avery Dulles] a leading Catholic theologian reports, "In his college years at William and Mary Jefferson came to admire [[Francis Bacon]], [[Isaac Newton]], and [[John Locke]] as three great paragons of wisdom. Under the influence of several professors he converted to the [[Deism]]."[http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0501/articles/dulles.htm] Dulles concludes:
:''In summary, then, Jefferson was a deist because he believed in one God, in divine providence, in the divine moral law, and in rewards and :punishments after death; but did not believe in supernatural revelation. He was a Christian deist because he saw Christianity as the highest :expression of natural religion and Jesus as an incomparably great moral teacher. He was not an orthodox Christian because he rejected, :among other things, the doctrines that Jesus was the promised Messiah and the incarnate Son of God. Jefferson's religion is fairly typical of :the American form of deism in his day.''
Before the Revolution, Jefferson was a vestryman in his local church, a lay position that was informally tied to political office at the time. He also had friends who were clergy, and he supported some churches financially.
Before the Revolution, Jefferson was a vestryman in his local church, a lay position that was informally tied to political office at the time. He also had friends who were clergy, and he supported some churches financially.
From 1784 to 1786, Jefferson and [[James Madison]] worked together to oppose Patrick Henry's attempts to again assess taxes in Virginia to support churches. Instead, in 1786, the Virginia General Assembly passed Jefferson's [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]], which he had first submitted in 1779 and was one of only three accomplishments he put in his own epitaph. The law read:
From 1784 to 1786, Jefferson and [[James Madison]] worked together to oppose Patrick Henry's attempts to again assess taxes in Virginia to support churches. Instead, in 1786, the Virginia General Assembly passed Jefferson's [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]], which he had first submitted in 1779 and was one of only three accomplishments he put in his own epitaph. The law read:
:''No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, :molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall :be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, :or affect their civil capacities.''
In his 1787 [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwedo/k12/psd/colony/tjnotes.htm Notes on the State of Virginia], Jefferson stated: "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make half the world fools and half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world..."
In his 1787 [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwedo/k12/psd/colony/tjnotes.htm Notes on the State of Virginia], Jefferson stated: "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make half the world fools and half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world..."
Jefferson sought what he called a "wall of separation between Church and State," which he believed was a principle expressed by the [[First Amendment]]. This phrase has been cited several times by the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the [[Establishment Clause of the First Amendment|Establishment Clause]]. In an 1802 letter to the Danbury, Baptist Association, he wrote:
Jefferson sought what he called a "wall of separation between Church and State," which he believed was a principle expressed by the [[First Amendment]]. This phrase has been cited several times by the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the [[Establishment Clause of the First Amendment|Establishment Clause]]. In an 1802 letter to the Danbury, Baptist Association, he wrote:
:''Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or :his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that :act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or :prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a Separation of church and state in the United States between church and State.''
Regarding the choice of some governments to regulate religion and thought, Jefferson stated:
Regarding the choice of some governments to regulate religion and thought, Jefferson stated:
:''The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say :there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.'' [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwedo/k12/psd/colony/tjnotes.htm Notes on the State of Virginia]
Deriving from this statement, Jefferson believed that the Government's relationship with the Church should be indifferent, religion being neither persecuted nor give any special status.
Deriving from this statement, Jefferson believed that the Government's relationship with the Church should be indifferent, religion being neither persecuted nor give any special status.
:''If anything pass in a religious meeting seditiously and contrary to the public peace, let it be punished in the same manner and no otherwise as it had happened in a fair or market'' [http://books.google.com/books?id=icGh3NxREIIC]
Jefferson refused to issue proclamations calling for days of prayer and thanksgiving during his Presidency, yet he did do so as Governor in Virginia. His private letters indicate he was skeptical of too much interference by clergy in matters of civil government. His letters contain the following observations: "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government," and, "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the [[despotism]], abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own." "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government." While opposed to the institutions of organized religion, Jefferson invoked the notion of divine justice in his opposition to slavery: "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice can not sleep forever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference!"[http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/jefferson/ch18.html Notes on the State of Virginia, Q.XVIII, 1782].
Jefferson refused to issue proclamations calling for days of prayer and thanksgiving during his Presidency, yet he did do so as Governor in Virginia. His private letters indicate he was skeptical of too much interference by clergy in matters of civil government. His letters contain the following observations: "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government," and, "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the [[despotism]], abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own." "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government." While opposed to the institutions of organized religion, Jefferson invoked the notion of divine justice in his opposition to slavery: "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice can not sleep forever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference!"[http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/jefferson/ch18.html Notes on the State of Virginia, Q.XVIII, 1782].
Jefferson did not believe in miracles. Biographer [[Merrill D. Peterson]] summarizes Jefferson's theology:
Jefferson did not believe in miracles. Biographer [[Merrill D. Peterson]] summarizes Jefferson's theology:
{{Cquote|''First, that the Christianity of the churches was unreasonable, therefore unbelievable, but that stripped of priestly mystery, ritual, and dogma, reinterpreted in the light of historical evidence and human experience, and substituting the Newtonian cosmology for the discredited [[Biblical cosmology|Biblical one]], Christianity could be conformed to reason. Second, morality required no divine sanction or inspiration, no appeal beyond reason and nature, perhaps not even the hope of heaven or the fear of hell; and so the whole edifice of Christian revelation came tumbling to the ground.''
{{Cquote|''First, that the Christianity of the churches was unreasonable, therefore unbelievable, but that stripped of priestly mystery, ritual, and dogma, reinterpreted in the light of historical evidence and human experience, and substituting the Newtonian cosmology for the discredited [[Biblical cosmology|Biblical one]], Christianity could be conformed to reason. Second, morality required no divine sanction or inspiration, no appeal beyond reason and nature, perhaps not even the hope of heaven or the fear of hell; and so the whole edifice of Christian revelation came tumbling to the ground.''
==Jefferson and slavery==
==Jefferson and slavery==
Jefferson owned many slaves over his lifetime. Some find it baffling that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves yet was outspoken in saying that slavery was immoral and it should be abolished. Biographers point out that Jefferson was deeply in debt and had encumbered his slaves by notes and mortgages; he chose not to free them until he finally was debt-free, which he never was. Jefferson seems to have suffered pangs and trials of conscience as a result.\ He wrote about slavery, "We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other."
Jefferson owned many slaves over his lifetime. Some find it baffling that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves yet was outspoken in saying that slavery was immoral and it should be abolished. Biographers point out that Jefferson was deeply in debt and had encumbered his slaves by notes and mortgages; he chose not to free them until he finally was debt-free, which he never was. Jefferson seems to have suffered pangs and trials of conscience as a result.\ He wrote about slavery, "We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other."
