Thomas Jefferson, a Christian

Thomas Jefferson is one of the more well-known personalities in our history. However, some U.S. citizens may not know about him. I asked someone in South Carolina, "Who was Thomas Jefferson?" The Southerner replied, "Wasn't he the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War?" I asked an acquaintance in California, "Who was Thomas Jefferson?" and he responded, "That was a rock band in the '60s and '70s."

Well, Jefferson Davis was president of the South, and the rock band was Jefferson Airplane. Both were a far cry from Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, born April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, Va. He is best remembered for his role as primary author of the Declaration of Independence. That document gave King George III great anxiety, and set the course for the most famous 13 colonies the world has ever known. Hopefully, you know about "The Declaration" so I won't go into that, except for two points. 1) The Declaration proclaims that all men are equal in rights, regardless of birth, wealth, or status, and that the government is the servant, not the master, of the people. 2) About one fourth of the original document was critical of the slave trade, but that portion was deleted by others on the committee.

But who was Thomas Jefferson? He can be understood by a statement he made in the midst of political conflict: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Therefore, he determined to mount a "wall of separation between church and state" and abolish slavery if practical. However, his statement has been misunderstood by the church and blown out of context by the world. Let me explain.

Rome dominated the Western world with excommunication, persecution, torture, and murder for centuries. Then, after the Reformation, the Protestant church began acting like Rome. John Calvin and others murdered both Catholics and Protestants who disagreed with them. The Church of England persecuted, tortured, and murdered both Catholics and Protestants, prompting the Puritans to flee to the New World. Jefferson saw the Catholic oppression while he was in France, and he abhorred it. He realized that a human-centered monarchy could be cruel, but a human-centered state-religion was worse!

Understanding the evil nature of man, he wanted Godly men to govern the affairs of men; but he did not want any single church or denomination to subjugate the populace to its specific creed. While Jefferson accepted true Christian principles which he found in Scripture, he rejected the oppressive orthodox Christianity of his day, and was especially hostile to the ecclesiastical tyranny he observed in France. Jefferson was anti-clerical, saying, "In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot. They have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer for their purposes."

Jefferson desired a truly Godly influence in our government. In a letter to his friend Benjamin Rush in 1803, Jefferson referred to himself as a Christian, stating: "To the corruptions of Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the sense in which he [Jesus] wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence." Jefferson praised the morality of Jesus. Of Christianity he said that it possessed, "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."

The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. The inscriptions in the memorial were taken from some of Jefferson's writings. Quoting from "Notes on the State of Virginia": "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever."

Today we may be experiencing a portion of that judgment. I pray that we, as a nation, return to faith in Jesus Christ, or judgment will be more pronounced. This return to God must start in our homes; only then can our government be changed for the better.

-- Gene Linzey is a speaker, author, and former pastor. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Religion on 04/16/2014