The Jefferson Lies (28 page)

190

Dumas Malone, the Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer of Thomas Jefferson, understood the difficulty of analyzing the orthodoxy of Jefferson's faith. He acknowledged that on the one hand, “This apostle of spiritual freedom regarded himself as a Christian, and unquestionably he was one in his ethical standards.”
⁸¹
But on the other hand, when one references the statements he made during his latter fifteen years, “Jefferson did not refer to the Messiah, the Savior, or the Christ,” although he did continue to have “unbounded admiration for Jesus.”
⁸²

Significantly, for nearly every Christian doctrine that Jefferson called into question in his last fifteen years, across his earlier sixty-eight years he had embraced that very same doctrine as orthodox. In fact, only a decade before Jefferson entered the Restoration Movement, he personally assured Dr. Benjamin Rush that “he believed in the Divine mission of the Savior of the World,” “in the Divine institution of the Sabbath,” and “likewise in the resurrection, and a future state of rewards and punishments.” (Although Rush acknowledged that there still existed some theological differences between himself and Jefferson.
⁸³
) After conversing with Jefferson on his personal religious views of Christianity, Rush confessed to Jefferson that “you are by no means so heterodox as you have been supposed to be by your enemies.”
⁸⁴

Probably no human today can know for sure whether or not Jefferson finished his life as a Christian in good standing with God through Jesus Christ; only God knows for sure. Perhaps Jefferson, having once had a strong early Christian faith which later became contaminated and weak, fits into the category of 1 Corinthians 3:15 that “[i]f anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

191

Several things are certain, however, including the clear fact that Jefferson was
not
an atheist. As he affirmed to John Adams, “[A]n atheist . . . I can never be.”
⁸⁵

Jefferson also was definitely not a deist. A deist believes in an impersonal God uninvolved with mankind and embraces the “clockmaker theory” that there was once a God Who made the universe and wound it up like a clock but that it now runs of its own volition; the clockmaker is gone. Prayer is therefore unavailing, for the clockmaker no longer intervenes in the affairs of men.
⁸⁶
It is clear that none of Jefferson's religious writings from any period of his life reveal anything less than his strong conviction in a personal God
⁸⁷
Who answers prayers and intervenes in the affairs of mankind
⁸⁸
and before Whom every individual would stand to be judged.
⁸⁹

Not only was Jefferson definitely not an atheist or a deist, he clearly was not a secularist—nor was he irreligious. To the contrary, he strongly promoted religion in general and Christianity in particular. He regularly expressed his personal affinity for the teachings of Jesus
⁹⁰
and frequently referenced the Bible in his own writings.
⁹¹
In fact, after Jefferson's death when his grandson was asked about Jefferson's religious opinions and beliefs, he reported:

I never heard from him the expression of one thought, feeling, or sentiment inconsistent with the highest moral standard or the purest Christian charity in its most enlarged sense. His moral character was of the highest order, founded upon the purest and sternest models of antiquity, softened, chastened and developed by the influences of the all-pervading benevolence of the doctrines of Christ, which he had intensely and admiringly studied. . . . In his contemplative moments, his mind turned to religion, which he studied thoroughly. He had seen and read much of the abuses and perversions of Christianity; he abhorred those abuses and their authors and denounced them without reserve. He was regular in his attendance on church, taking his prayer-book with him. He drew the plan of the Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, was one of the largest contributors to its erection, and contributed regularly to the support of its minister. I paid, after his death, his subscription of $200 to the erection of the Presbyterian Church in the same village. A gentleman of some distinction calling on him, and expressing his disbelief in the truths of the Bible, his reply was, “Then, sir, you have studied it to little purpose.” He was guilty of no profanity himself, and did not tolerate it in others—he detested impiety, and his favorite quotation for his young friends as a basis for their morals was the XV Psalm of David.
⁹²

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The condition of Jefferson's private personal theology and Christian faith in his last years might be questioned, but what cannot be questioned is the fact that throughout his life, Jefferson was pro-Christian and pro-Jesus in his beliefs, demeanor, and public endeavors.

193

C
ONCLUSION
Thomas Jefferson: An American Hero

O
ur examination of historical primary-source documents has clearly demonstrated that the picture of Jefferson's faith and morals painted by modern critics is definitively wrong. Any point his critics make might initially seem to be irrefutable, but once the rest of the story is told, reality emerges and truth can prevail. Thus, let us review the modern Jefferson lies.

1. DNA evidence has
not
proved that Jefferson fathered any children outside of his marriage to Martha. His moral reputation was attacked two centuries ago by enemies attempting to besmirch him during a presidential election, but the charges were groundless, not based on any fact. Jefferson, knowing that God knew the truth, regularly appealed to Him as his judge on this issue. He actually longed for the time when the Great Judge would not only clear him of any moral wrongdoing but also prove the accusations false. There is absolutely no historical, factual, or scientific evidence to tarnish the sexual morality of Jefferson. He therefore deserves to be listed alongside John Adams, Benjamin Rush, Roger Sherman, and so many other Founding Fathers whose reputations of moral purity remain untainted to this day.

2. Jefferson enjoyed a thoroughly religious education and was not responsible for instituting secular, religion-free education in
any
educational endeavor in which he was involved. Because he worked extensively to disestablish a state-approved denomination and to institute denominational nonpreferentialism, he therefore founded America's first trans- or nondenominational university. He ensured that multiple Christian denominations would be an active part of university life and that Christian instruction and activities would definitely occur on campus.

194

3. Jefferson did not write a Bible, not of any kind. He did create two religious works about Jesus that were exactly what he titled them. The first was an abridgment of the New Testament for the use of the Indians and the second was a compilation of the moral teachings of Jesus for his own personal study and meditation. In both he included multiple references to the supernatural and miraculous. Jefferson was a supporter of organizations that widely distributed the Bible. He owned a number of Bibles that he personally used and studied, was a member of the Virginia Bible Society, and financially supported the printing of Bibles. He gave Bibles to younger family members, and the Bible was openly used in institutions he helped start or direct, from Washington's public schools to the University of Virginia.

4. Jefferson was not a racist who opposed blacks and civil rights but rather was a lifelong unwavering advocate for emancipation. He was largely unsuccessful because of the state of Virginia in which he lived but it was not from a lack of effort or desire on his part. Had his efforts been undertaken in any state north of his own, he likely would be heralded today as one of America's leading early civil rights advocates. He was regularly praised by subsequent generations for his civil rights efforts and was favorably invoked by numerous civil rights leaders, both black and white. Jefferson referenced religious beliefs and teachings as the basis of his views on emancipation and equality, repeatedly declaring that because God was just, He would eventually bring slavery to an end in America, one way or another.

195

5. Jefferson regularly incorporated religious activities into public settings and invoked the “separation of church and state” phrase only to affirm the historic understanding that the government had
no
authority to stop, inhibit, or regulate public religious expressions. He therefore called for days of prayer, introduced religious bills in the state legislature, signed numerous federal acts promoting religious groups and activities, and facilitated official churches in the US Capitol, Treasury Building, War Office, and Navy Yard. Were Jefferson alive today, he would undoubtedly be one of the loudest voices against a secularized public square.

6. Jefferson did not hate clergy, but he did repeatedly denounce the Period II clergy who participated in the unholy alliance of “kingcraft and priestcraft.” He similarly reprobated American clergy who supported “law religion” that sought the establishment of a particular denomination in a state. Such clergy viewed Jefferson as their enemy (and he, they), but clergy who sought denominational nonpreferentialism were outspoken advocates and supporters of Jefferson. Jefferson praised many clergy, wrote letters of recommendation for them, gave generously to their churches, and recruited them to run for political office. Jefferson was the hero of countless clergy and remained close friends with many of them throughout his long life.

7. Jefferson was not a secularist, deist, or atheist. He never wavered from his belief that God actively intervened in the affairs of men. He thus regularly prayed, believing that God would answer his prayers for his family, his country, the unity of the Christian church, and the end of slavery. And while he always called himself a Christian, he ended his life as a Christian Primitivist, being in personal disagreement with some orthodox theological tenets of Christianity that he had affirmed earlier in life, although still holding fast to many other traditionally sound theological tenets. But notwithstanding his own personal theological difficulties over specific doctrines, there never was a time in his life when Jefferson was not pro-Christian and pro-Christianity.

196

On none of these seven points was it difficult to establish truth. Each inquiry was answered by plentiful personal statements directly from Jefferson and those closest to him. Those multiple declarations resoundingly refute the modern lies about his faith and morals.

The reason that an investigation of Jefferson's faith and morals was even necessary is the deplorable slip in accurate historical knowledge over the past half-century. We briefly touched on the five modern tools of historical malpractice in an earlier chapter:

1.
Deconstructionism
pours out a steady flow of negatives about traditional heroes, values, and institutions through sniping remarks, belittling criticism, and inaccurate portrayals. It poses “a continuous critique” to “lay low what was once high.”
¹
Consequently, even though Jefferson was venerated and honored for generations, today he is regularly attacked, belittled, and dismissed with pejorative epithets such as “rapist,” “deadbeat dad,” “vindictive racist,” “slave-owning, serial slave, sex addict,” and more.

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2.
Poststructuralism
rejects absolutes such as God or truth, instead asserting that each individual must interpret history for himself, basing its meanings on one's personal views rather than on objective standards. It encourages individual anarchy against traditional, national, unifying values and institutions, and citizens are made to be part of interest groups rather than allowed to stand individally. Hence, Jefferson is examined as an individual only in order to identify the group into which he should be placed, whether it is that of racists, Enlightenment writers, secularists, immoral slaveholders, Freethinkers, or any other.

3.
Modernism
examines historical incidents and persons as if they lived today rather than in the past, thereby separating history from its context and producing many flawed conclusions. Because it is certain that no state university today would include religious activities and classes for
all
its students, then it must have also been that way then, and so Jefferson's views on education were definitely antireligious. Because religious expressions today must be separated from the public square, it must have been that way two centuries ago, and so Jefferson was clearly a secularist. Because clergy today do not attack candidates from the pulpit as was done then, Jefferson's comments about the specific clergy who lied about him clearly indicate that he hated all clergy. Such are the suppositions of Modernism.

4.
Minimalism
unreasonably insists on oversimplicity and reducing everything to easy answers that don't require thinking or analysis, condensing complex situations into one-line characterizations and squeezing historical individuals into preconceived, preshaped molds they do not fit. Since Jefferson made some comments late in life rejecting specific tenets of Christianity, he is therefore deemed a lifelong atheist, so there is no need to investigate any of the complicated spiritual cycles through which he traveled or even to take note of the adverse effects of Christian Primitivism and Restorationism upon him. These are simply dismissed out of hand because they are too complex for popular consideration.