Featured Historical Revisionism

No, and neither do you have any evidence he didn't. Much has been written pro and con about his faith, but I believe he best put it himself. On June 25, 1819, he wrote to Ezra Stiles Ely, "I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know." That proves nothing either way. The modern caretakers of Monticello seem to go out of their way to prove he was not a Christian, but his writings, his church attendance, the real reasons behind his attempts to ferret out the nuggets of gold from among what he thought were corrupted texts -- many today still make that claim -- paint him at the very least a nominal Christian. Perhaps you can ask him if you see him in heaven. If you don't see him, you'll know he wasn't.

 

Could you comment on this from an April 1823 letter to John Adams? (Just added to my post above)


And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors.

It seems pretty clear that he had a high regard for Jesus the man as a reformer and teacher, but denied that He was Christ.

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dark-side-of-thomas-jefferson-35976004/?no-ist=&page=1

 

Why? Will it make it anymore clear whether or not he was? Probably not. No one knows who else is a Christian C4K. We can make best-guess judgments, but the final standing is Christ's alone, and we'll be shocked to see some people in heaven -- who will be just as shocked to us there.

Frankly, whether Jefferson was a Christian or not is irrelevant. His obvious belief in God, Creator of the universe, and his contributions to the Declaration and the Constitution based on those beliefs, are what put Christian principles into a secular government founded by Christian people.

 

I agree with this segment of your post.

 

That statement, C4K, is the quintessential historical revisionist statement.

 

Jefferson was not a theologian and should not have dabbled in the subject publically. Furthermore, he was a colonial by birth and thereby under repression. Imagine what Simon Bolivar had to contend with.

 

How it is revisionism to state an historical fact about which there is no debate? Jefferson owned people. That is history. It is not
revisionism.

 

Seems to be an uncomfortable fact that some would like to forget. Indeed he did own slaves, a lot of slaves, and in all probability he fathers several children with his slave, Sally Hemings.

 

You are complaining that the GOP-supported civil rights act of 1964 was not enacted in 1776. Your complaint is irrelevant to the Revolution. England did not free her slaves until the early 19th century. Islam still has slaves but that is also irrelevant to the American Revolution. Jefferson did not end sexual slavery either, and that involves countless millions to this day.

You seem to cling to the notion that man in a state of total depravity gave other men human rights.

 

Second that.

 

Another Jefferson quote on Jesus:

 

Once you really start to examine all the facts - especially the ones that are not so well known - you learn about Randolph Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's brother, who lived close enough to visit on a regular - and apparently merry - basis. Even Joseph Ellis, the dean of American Jefferson experts, admits that he did not know of Randolph's existence at the time he wrote his Jefferson opus "American Sphinx'. The obscure Randolph was a long-time widower who was well-known at the time for after-hours reveling in the slave quarters at Monticello.

http://www.rumormillnews.com/jefferson.htm

 

You have gone out of your way to defend the indefensible TND.

Some Thomas Jefferson quotes follow:

I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.

I trust there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian.

We find in the writings of his biographers [ i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John]...a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions, fanaticisms and fabrications.

 

The Democrats need to say if they believe that human rights came from government or from Jesus. If human rights are the gift of Jesus, then Jefferson is correct. If human rights came from government of men in a state of total depravity, then Jefferson is wrong and a poor founder of the Democrat Party, but more importantly there really is no such thing as human rights but only government rights.

 

Romans 1:19,20 has nothing to do with the biblical doctrine of drawing. I suppose the Romans passage is your starting point. But it doesn't establish your novel twist. All people know the reality of God's existence. It is plain to all and understood by all, so everyone is without excuse. But again that has nothing to do with biblical drawing.

 

This has nothing to do with what was the law. Jefferson said God created all men equal, but he owned other men. He denied them of their 'God given' rights of 'liberty and pursuit of happiness.'

He did not practice what he said he believed.

Cold hard facts are not revisionism. Denying those facts is.

 

It is off the subject. You are complaining that Jefferson did not make illegal what was legal soon enough. It is somewhat like why didn't we invade the Soviet Union after the defeat of Germany, Japan, and Italy. At any rate, Jefferson is the idol of the Democrats and you have confused the issue greatly by suggesting that they drop their idol and you have implied that human rights do not originate with Jesus but with slave-owners like Jefferson. Why don't you clarify your positions once in a while instead of presumably always trying to foster debate?

 

You are incorrect. I am not complaining about the law. The law did not require people to own slaves. Jefferson chose to own men despite the fact that he claimed all men have the God given right to their liberty and the pursuit of their own happiness. It is about his own personal choices - not about changing the law. If Jefferson believed what he said why didn't he act on it himself?

I am not saying anything about Democrats and their supposed idol. I know nothing about since that part of the debate since I have never voted for or supported a Democrat for any kind of office.

 

Okay, are you saying that Jefferson is incorrect in the Declaration of Independence or what?