The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth
as it is formally titled, was Thomas Jefferson's effort to
extract what he considered the pertinent doctrine of Jesus by
removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural
aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had
been added by the Four Evangelists. Using a razor, Jefferson cut
and arranged selected verses from the books of Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John in chronological order, mingling excerpts from
one text to those of another in order to create a single
narrative. After completion of The Life and Morals, about 1820,
Jefferson shared it with a number of friends, but he never
allowed it to be published during his lifetime. The most
complete form Jefferson produced was inherited by his grandson,
Thomas Jefferson Randolph, and was published in 1895 by the
National Museum in Washington. Once published in black-and-white
facsimile by the Government Printing Office in 1900 as a gift
for new members of Congress, the J