What Jefferson, Dickens And Tolstoy Can Teach Us About Exploring The Big Questions

In 1804, over three consecutive evenings, President Thomas Jefferson completed a private spiritual project. Using the King James Bible, he took a penknife to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, cutting out the Scripture he liked and pasting it into his own blank book. He called the book The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth and, fitting Jefferson's own worldview, it ignored Jesus' miracles and resurrection and scoffed at the idea of God's having a son. The so-called Jefferson Bible, the o...