You must elaborate on these tricks, the precepts of Christ, Christ speaks throughout the "gospels" so how is one to discern which are "good" precepts and not "tricks"?
Yes Christianity has been corrupted my "mens doctrine" but the Bible is the infalliable Word of God, unchanged....Jefferson would have changed his position if he had viewed the dead sea scrolls. The truth is Jefferson wanted to follow the commands he agreed with, as most people do.