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To: Mylo; Truthsayer20
"In order to do this one must ignore their many quotes that ridiculed the supernatural, denied the divinity of Christ, and denied allegiance to any religious creed."

Jefferson certainly believed in the supernatural. He believed in God. He believed in angels, and Satan, he believed in Prayer and believed that God did intervene in the lives of men. (I have dozens of letters, quotes, from jefferson supporting this)

Jefferson despised the corruption of Christ's words by men who tried to seek advantage over other men. He despised the corruptions of the Catholic church. he did not agree that Christ was God, nor do I. Christ was the Son of God, not God Himself.

Funny, Mylo, but you choose to ignore the many more quotes of Jefferson when he claims to be Christian.

In Protestantism no man tells another man whether they are Christian or not. Each man himself claims their discipleship to Christ.

You can also be Christian without belonging to any specific church (though Jefferson attended several on a regular basis depending whether he was in Virginia or Washington)

Jefferson prayed to God, followed the teachings of Christ and shared the Gospel with others (he wrote books about Christ). I have hundreds of quotes of his supplications to God.

By definition Deists do not pray to God, nor do they believe in an afterlife. Jefferson did both.

You cannot deny Jeffersons own profession of faith in Christ.

You cannot ignore Jeffersons belief in an afterlife and judgment by God.

"We are not in a world ungoverned by the laws and the power of a Superior Agent. Our efforts are in His hand, and directed by it; and He will give them their effect in His own time." -- Thomas Jefferson To David Barrow, Monticello, 1815

30 posted on 06/22/2005 4:31:07 PM PDT by Mark Felton ("I am a real Christian...a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus." -- Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Mark Felton
Jefferson denied the miracles of Jesus. He called the writers of the New Testament charlatans.

"If we could believe that he [Jesus] really countenanced the follies, the falsehoods, and the charlatanism which his biographers [Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,] father on him, and admit the misconstructions, interpolations, and theorizations of the fathers of the early, and the fanatics of the latter ages, the conclusion would be irresistible by every sound mind that he was an impostor" (Ibid..).

Jefferson denied the supernatural in the Bible.

"Read the Bible as you would Livy or Tacitus. For example, in the book of Joshua we are told the sun stood still for several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus we should class it with their showers of blood, speaking of their statues, beasts, etc. But it is said that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine, therefore, candidly, what evidence there is of his having been inspired. The pretension is entitled to your inquiry, because millions believe it. On the other hand, you are astronomer enough to know how contrary it is to the law of nature" (Works, Vol. ii., p. 217).

Where does he say he believed in the supernatural? I don't doubt that he mentioned Satan and Angels, Providence and Prayer; rhetorical language was rife with the stuff in that day and age.

He professed himself to be a Christian based upon his love of the philosophy of Jesus Christ (also such couldn't hurt him politically with his foes calling him an atheist). The book he wrote about Christ had all the supernatural taken out of it.

Please supply the quotes. Jefferson was such a complex person, and a prolific writer so he can be quoted well on both sides of many issues; but I'd like to see them.
33 posted on 06/22/2005 6:34:31 PM PDT by Mylo
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To: Mark Felton

Also any evidence that the "Thorough Deist" (his own words about himself) Benjamin Franklin rejected Deism?


34 posted on 06/22/2005 6:40:31 PM PDT by Mylo
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