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Jeffersons Bible

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Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant, complicated and contradictory man. Often considered the most brilliant individual of Americas Revolutionary War era, Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence, his nations first diplomat abroad, the countrys first secretary of state, its second vice president and third president of the United States. After James Madison succeeded him as president on March 4, 1809, Jefferson once again returned to Virginia, dedicating his last years to maintaining, building and re-building Monticello. It was during these years of reflection that he put together a volume he titled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, popularly known as the Jefferson Bible. Completed in 1820, the 84-page compilation demonstrates Jeffersons struggle to understand the moral teachings of Jesus. Jefferson was born out of the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason.The scholars of this era seriously questioned, and often abandoned, traditional faith and religious institutionsin favor of new, budding ideas based on science and reason. In this book Jefferson turned his attention to the Holy Bible.