Charissa DeLuca -Jefferson Bible

Deism is an ideology that was brought about by the new thinking of the Enlightenment period. Deists’ philosophy emphasized reason and nature over revelation. The main religious belief that Deists put forth was the idea that man could enter the kingdom of God by being a moral being. This directly contradicted the thoughts of Puritans and other established churches, which thought that only certain people were called to read and understand the Bible, and the only way to enter God’s kingdom is through the exclusive belief of Scripture. Deists also believed that there were certain laws of nature that had not changed since the time of Jesus and therefore the stories written in the Gospels that did not follow these laws were not true. Jefferson framed his entries included in his Bible around these ideas of reason. This is why Jefferson excluded any mention of the virgin birth, miracles, and the resurrection because they simply could not follow the laws of nature. Jefferson and deists alike were thought to doubt authority and question the Scripture; some recognized deists as being nonreligious and a dangerous group. Deists however still believed that God existed; in fact they believed that God had created us, but in contrast to Christian beliefs God did not interfere with our lives afterward. These ideas are what guide our religious beliefs all over the world today, in that people are free to seek their own religious truth through reason and their moral conscience.