Thomas Jefferson Thought Jesus Was a Deist

Over the years, I have paid very close attention to the different terms that have been used to describe the personal faith of various American founders. We see terms like "Christian," "deist," "unitarian," "theistic rationalist" and others bandied about with various adjectives and qualifiers like "orthodox Christian," etc. 

What I've found is that many curious and interested people, of various degrees of intellect and education, get "tripped up" by the use of these terms because the terms mean different things to different people. In fact, there are multiple competing definitions for each of these terms. So it helps to understand exactly what these terms mean in a definitional sense. That's where I think my research has value. 

The title of this post, to some folks interested in the conversation, might be jarring. "Huh? Thomas Jefferson thought Jesus was a deist?" Well yes, he did. But what did he mean by that? Jefferson was operating under a different definition of the term "deism" that is conventionally held. 

In fact, depending on how we define the label, Jefferson himself could be understood as a Christian, a deist, a unitarian, and a theistic rationalist. But more to the point, see this very informative article by Dr. Thomas Kidd, who is one of the few scholars who really understands these nuances. 

From the article:

To cite one important instance, Jefferson wrote in 1803 to the scientist and Unitarian minister Joseph Priestley, who was helping Jefferson to affirm his own idiosyncratic version of Unitarian Christianity. He told Priestley that he was thinking of composing an outline of the “Christian system” and the reasons for the superiority (though not perfection) of Jesus’s ethical teachings. After reviewing the moral codes of the great philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome, he said, “I should then take a view of the deism, and ethics of the Jews, and shew in what a degraded state they were, and the necessity they presented of a reformation. I should proceed to a view of the life, character, & doctrines of Jesus, who sensible of the incorrectness of their ideas of the deity, and of morality, endeavored to bring them to the principles of a pure deism, and juster notions of the attributes of god.”

For Jefferson, deism in this case simply meant belief in a monotheistic creator God. He knew the term had widely known skeptical connotations, too. Perhaps he took pleasure in describing Jesus as a deist, knowing this would irritate Christian critics who called Jefferson a deist. Once Jefferson reconciled himself to believing in Unitarian, naturalistic Christianity, he was eager to present himself as a true follower of Jesus, as opposed to critics like Linn. To Jefferson, traditional Christians clung to the churches’ accretions of “Platonic,” mystical, and ostensibly incomprehensible beliefs, such as the doctrine of the Trinity. Jefferson touted his devotion to the true deism of Jesus alone.

Dueling and the Christian Nation Issue

Alexander Hamilton died on this day in 1804. Over the years, I've done a great deal of investigation on the "Christian Nation" controversy. The answer to the question is "much of this depends on how you look at it."

There's a tradition of orthodox Christian scholars (as opposed to the "secular" ones) who conclude America was NOT founded as a "Christian Nation." Drs. Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch and George Marsden come to mind with their book "The Search For Christian America." And currently Dr. Warren Throckmorton has a book out entitled "The Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History."

But this issue -- how to view "dueling" and "Christianity" -- is a good microcosm on the controversy. America's founders believed and did things that may (or not) have been consistent with the historical practice of Christianity. For instance, dueling.

While he always believed in God, most historians conclude Hamilton didn't become an orthodox Christian until the very end of his life, after his son died in a duel. On his deathbed, Hamilton sought communion from two orthodox churches. BOTH of the ministers in those churches initially refused to give him communion in large part because they believed dueling was a profoundly UN-Christian act.

Now, I'm sure other theologians can make the case as to why what Hamilton did wasn't UN-Christian. But that's part of how the narrative behind the controversy operates.

I wrote this piece at Ordinary Times on the matter in 2015.

Christian Nationalism and the Original Meaning of the term "Religion"

In the United States Constitution, the term "religion" is used in the First Amendment and in the unamended Constitution, Art. VI, Cl. 3, the term is "religious." The term "religion" is like a genus that could give rise to various species. What is meant by that term and consequently what is "protected" constitutionally is contentious. 

I've observed a tendency in certain Christian Nationalist circles to attempt to limit the meaning to only those religious sentiments that are "acceptable." So for instance, "religion" here doesn't just mean "Christianity," but certain "acceptable" kinds of "Christianity." Roman Catholicism for instance, may or may not qualify. Some religious conservatives accused of "Christian Nationalism" have no problem with adding "Judeo" to the prefix, perhaps in an attempt to form an alliance between traditionally minded Jews and Christians. ... But not others. Not Islam. Not Hinduism. On the other hand, today's Alt-Right breed of Christian Nationalists tend to agree that Judaism is NOT Christianity, and ought to be placed in the same "outside the box" category as Islam and Hinduism. 

After intensely researching this matter for over 20 years, I've concluded that when America's founders used the term "religion," it transcended "Christianity," and "Judeo-Christianity." It may not have meant blatant Satanic demon worship; but other religions like Islam, Hinduism and unconverted Native American "Great Spirit" worship qualified as "religions." 

Here is a quotation from John Adams that well illustrates this:

It has pleased the Providence of the first Cause, the Universal Cause, that Abraham should give religion not only to Hebrews but to Christians and Mahomitans, the greatest part of the modern civilized world.

–- John Adams to M.M. Noah, July 31, 1818.

I've amassed many other quotations over the years that illustrate the point. But that one above will suffice for now. 

John Fea Featured on PBS Regarding America's 250th

Dr. Fea emerges as the voice of reason in this attempt to put into perspective "Christian Nationalism" and America's 250th. 

See here. 

And I've embedded a YouTube clip:

Frazer, Fea and Hall Featured on the Christian Nation Question

Drs. Gregg Frazer, John Fea, and Mark David Hall were recently featured in an AP article that got lots of press. A taste:

“Neither side really wants to hear what I say,” says Frazer, a professor of history and political studies at The Master’s University, a Christian school in Santa Clarita, California.

The founders, Frazer says, did not create a Christian republic. Several key founders either rejected core Christian doctrines or were vague enough to keep historians debating. For Frazer, that often disappoints audiences of his fellow Christians.

[...]

The long-running debate over the founders’ intentions about religion has been turbocharged with the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. Amid the America 250 celebrations, some Christian activists and authors are redoubling claims that the U.S. had a Christian founding.

[...]

Why do the founders’ beliefs and intentions matter?

“Everyone’s looking for what we historians call a usable past,” says John Fea, author of “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?”

“We go into the past looking for what we want in order to advance a particular political or cultural agenda,” says Fea, a fellow at the Lumen Center, a Christian research institute and study center in Madison, Wisconsin.

[...]

Historian Mark David Hall argues that Christianity did strongly impact the founding. While core founders did not hold traditional Christian beliefs, he contends many other founders did, and that this shaped their thinking about how to form the new republic.

“There’s plenty of evidence Christianity had an influence,” says Hall, author of “Did America Have a Christian Founding?”

He says founders’ attention to human dignity harmonizes with the Bible’s teaching of humanity created in God’s image. The system of checks and balances — to prevent the concentration of power — reflects teachings about human sin that would have permeated a largely Protestant culture, he says.

[...]

There is no reference to any specific religion in the Constitution beyond the date — “in the year of our Lord” 1787. It forbids religious tests for officeholders. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom and forbids “establishment” of a national religion.

[...]

Frazer argues that the Bible is not cited as a source for any governing principles in the documented proceedings of the Constitutional Convention or in the influential Federalist Papers, which advocated for the Constitution. He says the founders drew on influences such as Enlightenment thinking on such concepts as human equality, accountable government and freedom of religion. Early critics of the Constitution faulted it for lacking religious content.

The Declaration of Independence does have religious language, declaring that rights come from the “Creator.” It appeals to “divine Providence” and to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”

Thomas Jefferson and other founders — adroitly, Frazer says — used terms acceptable to Christians as well as followers of other religious and philosophical movements.

Quotations For The D.O.I.'s 250th: John Adams on the General Principles of Christianity

I'm trying to motivate myself to start posting more here, especially as America approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Here is a quotation that we oft-see cited to prove the Christian Nation hypothesis: It's from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813:

The general principles, on which the Fathers Atchieved [sic] Independence, were…the general Principles of Christianity, in which all those Sects were United: and the general Principles of English and American Liberty…Now I will avow, that I then believed, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God; and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.

The context of the quotation though, shows that it's a wildly heterodox and quite pluralistic notion. Adams considered himself to be a "Christian" -- a "liberal unitarian Christian." He was militantly anti-Trinitarian and bitterly rejected the doctrine of the Incarnation. So it stands to reason that his understanding of the "general principles of Christianity" might be unconventional. Indeed, when we examine the sects that were united under these principles that's exactly what we see:

Who composed that Army of fine young Fellows that was then before my Eyes? There were among them, Roman Catholicks, English Episcopalians, Scotch and American Presbyterians, Methodists, Moravians, Anababtists, German Lutherans, German Calvinists Universalists, Arians, Priestleyans, Socinians, Independents, Congregationalists, Horse Protestants and House Protestants, Deists and Atheists; and “Protestans qui ne croyent rien ["Protestants who believe nothing"].” Very few however of several of these Species. Nevertheless all Educated in the general Principles of Christianity: and the general Principles of English and American Liberty.

Of late I've been reflecting on the just how pluralistic the sectarian nature of religion was during America's founding era and Adams' quotation perfectly illustrates this. There's also the following passage where Adams used various philosophes associated with challenging conventional Christian notions as authoritative support for the quotation:

I could therefore safely say, consistently with all my then and present Information, that I believed they would never make Discoveries in contradiction to these general Principles. In favour of these general Principles in Phylosophy, Religion and Government, I could fill Sheets of quotations from Frederick of Prussia, from Hume, Gibbon, Bolingbroke, Reausseau and Voltaire, as well as Neuton and Locke: not to mention thousands of Divines and Philosophers of inferiour Fame.

See also here for a more detailed analysis. 

Dr. Ken Berry On Romans, Peter and Resistance In Tennessee

This post relates to some issues of personal interest, intersecting. For all the years I've been blogging, I've been a libertarian. And I think I've always been "political independent." As the years go by, I've become even more so; I really dislike the current "culture war," divisive climate in which we live and so I'm happily on the sidelines. I have taken an interest in nutrition science and for some time I've been convinced that there is something to ketogenic diets and that they are probably optimal (though, they are very limiting and thus, for most, too hard to stay on). I even sympathize with the case for "carnivore." 

Unfortunately, this issue has now become politicized. I came to my conclusions on keto before #MAHA existed. There are all sorts of things that come out of RFK Jr.'s mouth that I don't agree with or that otherwise strike me as "off." But things like keto and carnivore are now, in many people's minds, associated with MAHA/RFK Jr. This is unfortunate because it distracts from getting to the truth of the matter. But I am happy that they give it institutional support. 

Ken Berry is a medical doctor from Tennessee and is one of the more notable influential voices in the keto-carnivore space (his YouTube page has 3.8 million subscribers, as it stands). He's the author of "Lies My Doctor Told Me." To me, he's very likeable and down to earth. And he seems to be a "meat and potatoes" (he doesn't eat the latter, lol), conservative evangelical.

Berry is now starting to research and argue the issues of political theology that is the subject of this site. Welcome aboard, Dr. Berry. Drs. Mark David Hall and Gregg Frazer, also reformed/evangelical types, are two of the most learned scholars on the issue of the reformed influence on the political theology of the American founding. And they differ on certain details. And this site has featured their dialog and debates. 

With that, the following is from Dr. Berry's Substack:

Still, that does not mean every disagreement is tyranny. It does not mean every official gets to do whatever he wants in the name of conscience. And it certainly does not mean every frustrated citizen can drape himself in the language of righteous defiance. This doctrine only makes sense if it stays tied to Scripture, tied to real office, and kept within the limits of law. 

Put simply, the doctrine of the lesser magistrate holds that a lower civil authority may, and in some grave cases must, resist a higher authority when the higher authority acts unlawfully or commands what is sinful. The doctrine is not about private citizens taking matters into their own hands. It is about lawful officeholders using the authority of their own office rightly under God and law. 

Scripture gives us the basic tension. Romans 13 says governing authority is from God and calls the ruler “God’s servant for your good.” First Peter says believers are to be subject “for the Lord’s sake” to human authorities, and it describes the proper end of government as punishing evil and praising good. Christians are not anarchists. Civil government is not merely an unfortunate necessity. It is a real institution ordained by God for human good. 

But obedience to earthly rulers is not absolute. In Acts 5:29, Peter and the apostles say plainly, “We must obey God rather than men.” The Hebrew midwives in Exodus refused Pharaoh’s murderous command because they feared God. Daniel continued to pray when the king’s decree forbade it. Scripture does not teach blind obedience to wicked commands. It teaches ordinary submission to rightful authority, always bounded by prior obedience to God. 

That is the tension. Christians are told to honor governing authority, but also to refuse obedience when obedience would require sin. The doctrine of the lesser magistrate grew out of that tension in public life. It asks a question many people today no longer know how to frame: what is a lower civil authority supposed to do when a higher authority becomes lawless, tyrannical, or morally corrupt? 

The best-known historical statement of the doctrine came in the Magdeburg Confession of 1550. ...

Dr. Berry isn't discussing the American founding here; rather he's discussing how Christians like himself should view these issues and the Tennessee Constitution. Though, these issues HAVE been discussed in the context of how they relate to the American founding. He has noted he plans on writing more about these issues and the American founding in the future. We look forward to it and perhaps having him join us in the discussion.