<p>This edited volume of over 400 documents dealing with religion includes over 50 letters written by Jefferson but printed here for the first time in history from the 15 years that the official Papers of Thomas Jefferson, published by Princeton University Press, have yet to publish.  This volume publishes far more of Jefferson's religious correspondence and documented religious actions than have ever been collected anywhere else. Furthermore, entries from Jefferson's Memorandum Books and other documents provide additional context to the correspondence. The work is valuable for scholars but also interesting to many readers interested in Jefferson and America's founding era. Indeed, the core evidence found here was analyzed by the late Harvard professor Alan Heimert and he urged its publication saying that it adds "immeasurably to Thomas Jefferson's own intellectual biography."Mark Beliles, editor, also has a companion volume that analyzes these documents that is entitled Doubting Thomas? The Religious Life and Legacy of Thomas Jefferson.</p>

The Selected Religious Letters and Papers of Thomas Jefferson

History

Mark A. Beliles

Americas

America Publications

Thomas Jefferson produced two abridgements of the Gospels with two different purposes. He envisioned his 1804 "cut to paste" abridgement (46 pages) as a mini-Bible and "Collection for the Indians." He originally hoped to publish it as a manual in different Indian dialects as a concise summary of the moral and doctrinal precepts of the Bible for Native Americans on the frontier. However, his 1820 expanded abridgement (82 pages)---in Greek, Latin, French and English---was for his personal study. Jefferson's 1804 White House "wee little book" has never been found except for the Title Page, Table of Texts, and two KJV Bibles he used to clip Scriptures into a blank notebook. Dr. Judd Patton, Professor Emeritus at Bellevue University, has re-constructed President Jefferson's 1804 abridgement highlighting: the words of Jesus in red-letters; the moral and doctrinal precepts of Mr. Jefferson's work; seven rare, historic facsimiles of Jefferson's Title Page, Table of Texts and 1791 Bible; and three scholars who explain the context of Jefferson's work for Native Americans, that calls into question the common but erroneous perceptions associated with the "Jefferson Bible." The book is dedicated to Native Americans and is a must read for American patriots desiring to understand Thomas Jefferson's classic work in early American religious history.

Thomas Jefferson's 1804 First Abridgement of Jesus

Judd W. Patton

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The Selected Religious Letters and Papers of Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson's 1804 First Abridgement of Jesus