Stuff You Should Know - Did Thomas Jefferson rewrite the Bible?

Episode Date: July 1, 2010

Thomas Jefferson is famous for his role in shaping the United States of America -- and for creating his own, revised version of the Bible. Learn more about the Jefferson Bible in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready. Are you? Welcome to stuff you should know from house stuff works calm Hey, and welcome to the podcast I'm Josh Clark with me as always is Charles W. Chuckers Bryant and that makes this stuff you should know I'm always here for you Josh Yeah, hey Don't kill it ever. I'm glad you are Chuck. Sure. This is um day two

Episode two in the new studio. Yes, the walls are closing in on us. I kind of like it in here now. I'm already used to it Chuck Josh So the Bible's been popping up in my life a lot lately really? Yeah, how so? You me and I just started subscribing to Harper's okay monthly weekly one of those two Uh-huh. It's like this magazine from like 1889. Yeah, I know it. Okay And in the first article of the first issue that we got it's um, there's a and there's I guess a Notes section by a guy who says that the Old Testament is an allegory for the Neolithic Revolution remember we went from hunting and gathering

Agriculture and he made some really cool points, right? I'm like for example Cain and Abel Abel was a herdsman Cain was a farmer Cain murdered Abel. Yeah, right Salute. So he slew him. Uh-huh first murder ever as far as we know. Oh, really? Oh, that's right. Yes. I can't remember what he said about Adam and Eve But basically like that's the beginning where we it was actually kind of a cautionary tale. Oh, really? Yeah, like like be careful. There's all this other stuff associated with agriculture that you're not seeing right Um, so I found that intensely interesting Then you suggest we do one on the Jefferson Bible and I'm like what is going on here, right? Right?

third one number three this elderly woman By all rights, she's in her 80s 90s. Okay spitfire ladies still though. Sure Didn't like to use a blinker when she stopped suddenly in parking lots when I'm right behind her. They never do Um, so I went around her. I was a little irritated and I wanted her to know it She lays on her horn really and I'd let's stick my head out and I'm like be quiet like Roman Park I thought you did not I go in park and I go into the end of the um into public speak quiet This woman comes and finds me

Oh my goodness and is like are you the sir are you the gentleman who went around me in traffic and blah blah blah? She's like berating me loudly in the middle of Publix. He said I'm no gentleman So finally she ends it with you need to get to church And I was like true. I swear to God I'm not kidding you my friend Tom my BFF Tom. Uh-huh was on the phone with me He can verify this and you said Betty White is coming after me in a Publix. I wish this was Betty White This woman was terrifying. Wow was wearing like clam diggers With white socks pulled up black sas shoes

her skin hung loose and She had fire in her eyes. She wanted to kill me. What did you say? Did you reply anything? Or did you just sheepishly a brother? I wasn't sheepish. You're not gonna say what you said you can tell me afterward though Okay, but I wasn't sheepish. I wasn't like entirely mean, but I didn't I didn't Frankly, as you know, I quit the Boy Scouts because I think that it's a bad idea to just give blanket respect To the old people because they're old. Okay, I've met some old jerks in my time and this room was actually one of them So yeah, yeah, but that's this week man Three that's an exciting week. I never talk about the Bible. It never comes up church never comes up. Yeah, but here we are

All right Chuck Did Thomas Jefferson, right? Oh, or rewrite the Bible fact or fiction. Hey, that's old school Josh that is faction because He um, he did not rewrite the Bible, but he did cobble together his own version of the Bible that he thought was Valid and and should be red and fitting I'll just say that Which is actually if you think about it a really a Pretty pretentious and arrogant thing to do. Yeah, this wouldn't go over well in today's president if you if someone said Obama Put together, you know different parts of the Bible and said that this was what I think the Bible should be

He wouldn't last too long. No, I don't think it would have ever gone over if Taft had done it He would have been like run out of town on a rail like you can't do that as early day So you get away with anything back then. I suspect that Thomas Jefferson had Asperger's Okay from some of his some of his His demeanor the way carrying himself is incredibly high level of intellect Uh-huh, I suspect that he had some something along those lines, right? He might have you can also say that he could not have cared less what people thought of him No, he did his own thing. Yeah highly intelligent guy

and like you said If it had come out that a president had done that a lot of people are unaware of this that it wouldn't go over very well Which is why he didn't let it out. I don't know that. That's why he didn't let it out I think he just was doing it for himself, right genuinely. I don't think he was trying to be secretive about it But you were saying like it wouldn't go over. Well today there's kind it's kind of fashionable in certain quarters to point out that the founding fathers were bent on founding a Christian nation, right? It's a very contentious thing to say although a lot of people do that's how they see right the United States, right?

Yeah, I think Thomas Jefferson cutting up the Bible and cutting out all the miracles and what do you consider gobbledygook? Yeah, yeah kind of undermines that argument a little bit. Don't you think well? He was a deist It's good time to bring that up. Uh-huh George Washington was a deist Benjamin Franklin and a deist Which what we call founders, right? They are they differ from traditional Christians because they reject um miracles basically a lot of the prophecies and They it says here they embrace the notion of a well-ordered universe created by God But God then withdrew into detached transcendence, right?

They believe like a lot of things Christians believe but a lot of people at the time said this was a way for you to reconcile Your Christianity with all these amazing new scientific findings that we're finding that kind of find the face of Christianity, right? And deism was the Enlightenment religion right um and basically the way it looked at God is there's a creator God But he's kind of like a clockmaker and he created this Clock of the universe wound it up and just stood back to watch it go It's a great way to say it and do you remember like in the release uber paranoid late 90s right before the millennium? There's like kind of a concept that the universe is a

Um, the result of an alien experiment, right? That's kind of like in the same vein actually. There's some Higher power right that doesn't have a hand in our individual lives, but was started created all this. Yeah pretty interesting It is so that was TJ. That was TJ and BF and Gw T. Jeff That's what he his nickname today would be T. Jeff his nickname today is T. Jeff as of now. Yeah, so He also was the he penned the Declaration of Independence. We should say which most people know He was also the one who came first elucidated the wall of separation between church and state Yeah, not did not come from the Constitution. No, but he so there's this a Baptist convention of Danbury Yes, the Connecticut committee of the Danbury Baptist Association and they wrote to Jefferson saying is this a Christian nation or not?

Basically, you know it sort of he basically pointed to you know, he said he said he said no I I'm sure you agree with me that religion is between a man and his god, right? And really eloquently said no, there's a First Amendment There's a there's a clause in the First Amendment that says that that Congress won't Establish a religion and so I Thomas Jefferson as president and one of the guys who wrote that right see it as a wall Of separation between church and state. Yeah, he thought it was a very very personal thing religion was Spirituality was a very personal thing. Yeah, one should step in and tell you what to think about it Right. It's so personal that he decided to craft his own Bible. Yes, and one of the reasons he did this because

Like we said, he was a deus deus or deus deus I think you can go either way. He's a deus and he was also very skeptical of who wrote the Bible the Gospels in In particular, he thought they were quote unlettered and ignorant. Yeah, basically how he saw the Bible writers Evangelist that's where the name comes from. Yeah, those were the Gospel writers, but they were also Platonics they followed Plato right and wrote around the time of Plato and they We remember when we were talking about like Halloween Christmas Easter all the pagan holidays Yeah, they're all pagan holidays that we've adopted and Christianized right in an effort

Easter night. Yeah. Oh, was it? Yes spring harvest. Oh, right spring equinox Vernal equinox, I think it's what it's called right. Yeah, vernal and autumnal. Yes, vernal equinox and esoterra was a pagan goddess, right? anyway If this is this is how he viewed the the Bible being written like like there was a There was a person in Jesus of Nazareth. Sure. He walked awesome guy Philosopher incredible philosopher had this amazing moral code great drummer. What right? and then And espoused it to people

Who remembered it passed it down orally and then somebody finally wrote it down, right? but when they were trying to write it down, they were also trying to establish a church sure and So they added some magic so that they could they could bring the pagans into the fold aka miracles Yes, and he also believed and this is where he really wouldn't jive with today's System as a politician. Mm-hmm. He did not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ He did not believe that he was the Son of God, right? He thought that he was like Plato essentially like a spot-on philosopher, but he thought a lot of him He said he wrote a letter to John Adams in 1813 and said that

The book that he ended up putting together which we'll get into the nuts and bolts of that But he said you call it the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man Yeah, Jesus's philosophy. Yeah, so he clearly thought a lot of Jesus's philosophy and he thought a lot of the the Greek Philosophers and I imagine other religious philosophers as well But what he was saying was the what Jesus had come up with was as good as it gets he kind of bash play though Did you see that? Yeah? He read Plato in the original Greek and was like meh. Yeah, exactly. He found it lackluster. Yeah, like yeah Well, guess he's hard to please you read the Bible and he cut it down to 46 pages

He did Christopher Hitchens put it like this, and you know He's not a he's not a big guy on Religion no he kind of actively combats it But yeah on there's a 46 second clip on YouTube of Christopher Hitchens debating somebody and he describes the Jefferson Bible as What was left after Jefferson took a pair of scissors and cut out anything that could not by any intelligent person be believed It makes for a slender convenient read. Yeah, and yeah, I mean if you hate and Christopher Hitchens This is no surprise to you if you love Christopher Hitchens. This is no surprise. Yes, but he got one thing wrong He apparently used a razor and not scissors

Small detail right well literally he went through and was was scratching stuff out Oh, really and then I think he went back and started cutting stuff out Well, he probably that he found himself scratching so much out it got tiresome Yeah, he's like I should just see cut out what I do like instead of scratching out what I don't like Because I'll told there are 31,103 Bible verses numbered Bible verses right, but here's just doing the New Testament So we're talking 7,957 right and specifically the Gospels of Matthew and Luke mm-hmm which there well there was more than that But he used a lot for Matthew and Luke

2,222 and Matthew and Luke and all told he only had the Jefferson Bible only had 990 right verses It's 22 and things look different like doctors visits for example sometimes you don't have to go into a doctor's office to be treated for Non-emergency situations like a sinus infection or allergy And that's why Teladoc gives you the chance to connect with board certified physicians right from your home via phone or video That's right doctors are standing by 24 7 so you can schedule a visit according to your schedule You can see for yourself why Teladoc is ranked to number one by JD power and telehealth

Satisfaction with direct to consumer providers teladocs available through most major health plans and many employers But even if you're not covered by insurance everyone has access to use teladoc That's right. If you want to check it out download the app today or visit teladoc.com Slash stuff to register or schedule a visit today. That's Tela Doc.com Slash stuff for JD power 2021 award information visit JD power comm slash awards

30 years ago a van exploded in a parking garage below the World Trade Center The plan was to send the North Tower crashing into the south it failed But six people were killed and more than 1,000 injured the masterminds behind it all were just getting started and would soon change the world forever Featuring never before heard audio. This is a story told by investigators from around the world Using double agents and an undercover operative to bring the bomber to justice This is operation trade bomb an Apple original podcast hosted by Mark Smirling follow operation trade bomb on Apple podcasts So he definitely pared down quite a bit big time. He he took out everything about he yeah, and he took he took out everything about Crutch's birth the virgin birth. Yeah, that was gone. He left in the crucifixion, but it ends at the burial

There's no resurrection. Yeah, basically the the last verse was John 19 and they ended it his book ends with they rolled the stone in front of the sepulcher and The and the end He left a lot of the last upper end, but it kept the part of the Eucharist out Right, this is my body which is the sacrament blood and all that. Yeah, so basically he just kept in basically the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth and His philosophy. Yeah, they got in the article that he left what they called what he considered genuine events Like the Sermon on the Mount certain parables the way to live your life and see that's always been my deal

I don't want to get too personal, but you know, I was raised after this after the last 200 episodes a little late for that. Yeah, I was raised Southern Baptist and it wasn't the best experience for me but I still say I still maintain that the Bible has is a great moral code and there's lots of great parables that teach you How you should act as a human and apparently I'm in Jefferson's camp because that's what he ended up using sure as He ended up calling it initially the philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth and then change that title later to The life and morals of Jesus of Nazareth, right? And then in the 1910 edition there was a subtitle or how to get buying Queens on a dime a day How long have you been working on that just now? Yeah, shut up. No, seriously

So it clearly wasn't called how to win friends and influence people because he this probably wasn't a very popular thing to do Even back then. No, I'm sure it would have the same effect as how to win friends and influence people though Yeah But he did keep it quiet. He said it was for himself again. I don't think he kept it quiet I think he he was just keeping it for himself I just agree with part a of the sentence. He just said but agree with part B Thank you. Yeah, I have a quote from him if you want to hear from the man himself Eddie Josh is wrong. No, sorry

He said I performed the operation for my own use by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book and Arranging the matter which is evidently his and which is as easily distinguished as diamonds in a dung hill Mm-hmm. That's kind of harsh But he's saying that the stuff that really came from Jesus's mouth right is the gold the diamonds in the dung hill So he's extracted all that right and that was what he believed in well Yeah, he thought the platonics were sellouts that they should have just you know, maybe not added quite so much So what happened to it Josh? What happened to it was it basically again, he did it for himself

I think I I read a reference that he did it kind of on a whim or in In response to a question from a friend of his dr. Benjamin rush Oh, yeah, said like how would you characterize your view of Christianity? So he went about doing that. I think it's really got the idea. Yeah, exactly got a razor And it was in his private library, which apparently somebody inherited and a Smithsonian library and came across it Yes, sir Siris Adler. What I found funny is Cyrus Adler is a Government employee I came across this and was like, oh, I'm gonna sell this to the library Right, you know, they bought it. Yeah, they did and they started putting it in print Congress ordered it in print

Um, Thomas Jefferson is considered the father of the Senate. Yeah, he was the first vice president So he and he wrote the rules of the Senate, right that are still in use today He just did it because it was bored one day. Sure Asperger's same reason you cut up the Bible. Yeah And so Congress Congress started publishing. I think it published like 9,000 copies. Yeah, and even still today It's a customary welcome gift to new members of Congress. I find that interesting. Yeah A lot of the same Congress who are like this is a Christian nation, right? Yeah, but I mean, it's still in there That's that's the diamond But it is very interesting that they would give an altered version of the Bible as a gift

Yeah, I mean, it's it's not as odd as if they were to give like Alistair Crowley's memoirs But it was definitely a little odd. I when I read that I was slightly shocked. Yeah, well, it kind of comes It kind of reveals a certain disingenuousness Doesn't that yeah a little bit possibly It's 2022 and things look different like doctors visits for example Sometimes you don't have to go into a doctor's office to be treated for non-emergency situations like a sinus infection or allergy And that's why Teladoc gives you the chance to connect with board certified physicians right from your home via phone or video That's right doctors are standing by 24 7 so you can schedule a visit according to your schedule

You can see for yourself why Teladoc is ranked in number one by JD power and telehealth Satisfaction with direct to consumer providers Teladocs available through most major health plans and many employers But even if you're not covered by insurance, everyone has access to use Teladoc That's right. If you want to check it out download the app today or visit teladoc com slash stuff to register or schedule a visit today That's TEL a do see dot com slash stuff for JD power 2021 award information visit JD power dot com slash awards 30 years ago a van exploded in a parking garage below the World Trade Center The plan was to send the North Tower crashing into the South it failed

But six people were killed and more than 1,000 injured the masterminds behind it all were just getting started and would soon change the world forever Featuring never before heard audio. This is a story told by investigators from around the world using double agents and an undercover Operative to bring the bomber to justice. This is operation trade bomb an Apple original podcast hosted by Mark Smirling Follow operation trade bomb on Apple podcasts makes you think at least Well, and it lets you know what was in Thomas Jefferson's mind and he's easily one of the most fascinating historical figures we have Yeah, you got anything else? No, if you want to know more about the Jefferson Bible You can read this pretty cool article by Jane McGrath you can find it online

The whole Bible you can do both. How about sure? Let's get some people to site first. Yeah, that's true You just type in Jefferson Bible and the handy search bar how stuff works comm And then after that you might as well just go read the Jefferson Bible, right? Yes. Yes Which leads us to Listener questions So, yeah, we put out a call on Facebook a couple of weeks ago for questions and we got bombarded So we're actually having to do this in installments because there were a lot of good questions These are the year this really we need new questions man. No, no, no old. No, these are brand new

Oh, they are you're lying two weeks ago, but they're still new because we haven't used them So we're gonna bust a lot of these pretty quickly Chuck says who's taller between Josh Chuckers and Jerry Josh is the tallest a robust six feet or so. Mm-hmm I'm about feet on the no about 510 Jerry. How tall are you? Jerry's 5'8". Jerry's 5'8". Behind the curtain. So there you have it. Go ahead. I've got one from Colin Who would win in a fistfight? Ira Glass or Josh? I think it would be a We can actually size we size them up physically in person now. I think it would be like a

Humiliating slap fight for both guys. I don't know that there would be a fight to be more like Do you remember Adam Goldberg in days and confused? Yes You remember when he's being pulled off or when when Nikki Katz being pulled off of him? Yeah I think it would be like that for both of us. Yeah, both of us is Adam Goldberg, right? Yeah Tripp says can you finally reveal the name of the big box appliance store that Did not do Chuck right with his extended warranty. I don't think that that would be very smart Do you know that even I don't know what it is? I don't think that would be very brand smart to do Josh So I'm not going to. Thank you Tripp for the question. Wow Chuck

I'm not reading this one. Okay. So here's another one from Natalie Would you consider doing a six degrees of separation from your listeners? I go first my sister Kathleen went to Radan High School with Chuck Kathleen Egan. Awesome. So that's not a question. It even ends in an exclamation point. Yeah Tom says what's it like being so old Chuck? Tom. It is awesome. Go ahead There's one from Hannah. Which is better cake or pie? What do you call a soft drink? I call it soda. My hubby calls it pop That's two questions. I call it Coke. I call it Coke as well. I grew up calling it pop What's better cake and pie? Actually there's nothing better than a good cake pie

Yeah, I like cake. I like pie too. Brittany. Oh this is Brittany from New York And actually to answer that question pie is better Remember Brittany? Yes. Brittany says does Hippie Rob participate in the SYSK drinking game which we don't sanction No one knows where Hippie Rob is. And if so is he the all-time record holder? I don't even know that Hippie Rob knows that SYSK exists. Of course he doesn't. I don't think he does So this one's from Bobby. What are your favorite bands of all times or your favorite songs? My favorite band of all time, Clear Winner is the Pixies Chuck Really? Oh yeah. I'll probably go with The Who or Pavement. Maybe Zeppelin

Brianna, our favorite fan, Brianna says what were your first impressions of each other? I thought Josh was like me when I first met him and it turns out he sort of is And he's sort of not. It's not true at all. No, I knew we were like fellow... I thought you were a cool guy. Reformed Bad Boys You had that pack of cigarettes rolled up in your sleeve. That was the dead giveaway I've got one from Ebba. How does Jerry work? She doesn't Oh, not true. Go ahead Christopher, what's it like living in Hot Lanna? Particularly now that the summer is starting

It is awful. And I grew up here and it's still awful and it's not like you get used to it No, it's gotten exponentially worse. Even since I moved down here in 1990 It's terrible. You can't breathe. It's like you're swimming outside I got one more. This one is from Mark If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Flying Invisibility. Well, those are the questions. Thank you No, I'm not done yet. I got two more quick ones, Josh. Sean says would you like cheese with that? Always, of course, is the answer to that question

And Joe says what is the best, most unique piece of free swag anyone has sent you? And I think we just got it this week I'm gonna have to go with the Rootsuit. Are you? Yeah The Rootsuit for those of you that are always sunny in Philadelphia fans is the Green Man costume That Charlie wears. And so I requested a Green Man outfit And you won't take it off. And I got it and I wrote the guy today and said thank you so much for the Green Man thing I'm really excited and he said your life, your new life begins now Your new life of leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination show. It's disturbing

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