Appeal to authority.
TJ was one heck of a great thinker. But since TToE was penned pretty much 100 years after his life he wasn’t in a position to comment on it any more than he was in a position to comment on 2VL vs. 3VL.
Whether he did or didn’t think of ID as religion (it is) is irrelevant except for those who stoop to “appeal to authority” — and not even an authority on theology.
Happy July 4th.
I hereby give you the gift of my response.
You’re welcome.
Ideas of evolution, even if not so named, existed long before Darwin wrote his views down and long before Jefferson just as did the idea that one could look at the earth and detect a designer in the design, an obviously intelligent designer.