Thomas Jefferson’s Christianity: In His Own Words

 

The meaning of the Founders’ statements and their religious beliefs is often used in contemporary religious and political arguments.  In many ways, Americans place these early American leaders on a pedestal and elevate them to a status of demigod.  The truth is, many of the Founders are complex figures who we attempt to understand through their words and that which was written about them.  One such Founder, Thomas Jefferson, is often considered quite the contradiction himself whether it be his stance on slavery or his view on the size of government.  Both sides of the coin often also try to neatly place this complex historical figure into the box of their choice.  But when it comes to Christianity, what does Thomas Jefferson say about his own doctrinal beliefs?

In the Declaration of Independence, attributed to Jefferson, he declared that humans had the powers of the earth “which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them” and “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”[1] So from his own words in the Declaration, it is apparent that Jefferson had a belief in God.  Now who was that God?  Was he speaking specifically about the God of Abraham?  Was that God a different god?  Was that God a generic idea of a god he had in his mind?

In a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush dated April 21, 1803, Jefferson addressed his religious beliefs as it pertained to Christianity specifically.  Jefferson and Rush had earlier met during 1798-99.  During these meetings the two men had discussed Christianity and Jefferson promised him that he would write him in the future to discuss his own personal views on the religion.  First Jefferson stated that he had an “anti-Christian system imputed to [Jefferson] by those who knew nothing of [his] opinions.”  What he was opposed to he described as “the corruptions of Christianity.”[2]

What Jefferson did say he believed was that he was “a Christian, in the only sense he wished anyone to be.”  Jefferson believed in Jesus’s “doctrines, in preference of all others.” So Jefferson believed he followed the teachings of Jesus.  He did not, however, delve into the specific details of what that meant.  It seems his reasoning was that some in the public was tempted to pervert and misrepresent his true views.[3]

[1] United States, and United States, Constitution, The Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States of America, (New York: R. Spalding, 1865) Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (accessed June 4, 2023), https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0106915641/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=.

[2] Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1803, in Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies, from the papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 3 (Charlottesville: F. Carr, 1829), Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (accessed June 4, 2023), https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0105516986/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=.

[3] Ibid.

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