The Jefferson Bible: A Biography

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The life and times of a uniquely American testamentIn his retirement, Thomas Jefferson edited the New Testament with a penknife and glue, removing all mention of miracles and other supernatural events. Inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment, Jefferson hoped to reconcile Christian tradition with reason by presenting Jesus of Nazareth as a great moral teacher-not a divine one. Peter Manseau tells the story of the Jefferson Bible, exploring how each new generation has reimagined the book in its own image as readers grapple with both the legacy of the man who made it and the place of religion in American life.Lost for decades and rediscovered by chance in the late nineteenth century, Jefferson's cut-and-paste scripture has meant different things to different people. Some have held it up as evidence that America is a Christian nation founded on the lessons of the Gospels. Others see it as proof of the Founders' intent to root out the stubborn influence of faith. Manseau explains Jefferson's personal religion and philosophy, shedding light on the influences and ideas that inspired him to radically revise the Gospels. He situates the creation of the Jefferson Bible within the broader search for the historical Jesus, and examines the book's role in American religious disputes over the interpretation of scripture. Manseau describes the intrigue surrounding the loss and rediscovery of the Jefferson Bible, and traces its remarkable reception history from its first planned printing in 1904 for members of Congress to its persistent power to provoke and enlighten us today.

Reviews

"Peter Manseaus fluent and instructive The Jefferson Bible: A Biography . . . carefully traces Jeffersons pilgrimage into the non-miraculous."---James Parker, The Atlantic
"Peter Manseau knows the Jefferson Bible well. . . . His outstanding biography of the text . . . pays careful attention to its status as private project, published book and political symbol."---Crawford Gribben, Wall Street Journal
"Manseaus story [recounts] a thrilling mixture of accident, fine timing, and diligent public-museum curation."---Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker
"[A] fine biography, the latest in Princeton University Presss excellent series on the Lives of Great Religious Books. "---Nick Spencer, Prospect
"Manseau's biography is scholarly and witty. It is an excellent introduction to an underappreciated aspect of Jefferson's thinking."---Daniel Rey, History Today
"Excellent. . . . As Manseau observes, the ways in which Americans have received the Jefferson Bible may be more interesting than the ways by which Jefferson conceived it."---John Miller, Angelus
"An illuminating look at a work of one of our most intellectually inquisitive presidents that will appeal to Jefferson aficionados, as well as anyone interested in the history of American religion." * Library Journal *
"[F]ascinating. ... Manseaus accounting of the post-discovery history of Jeffersons [Bible] is well told." * The Journal of Southern History *

Author Bio

Peter Manseau is the Lilly Endowment Curator of American Religious History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. His many books include The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost and Rag and Bone: A Journey among the World's Holy Dead.