Before he died, Thomas Jefferson expressed his desire that his three biggest accomplishments be listed on the obelisk that marks his grave at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. They were that he was the author of the Declaration of Independence (the acceptance of which we celebrate in America at 250), the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (written in 1777 and adopted in 1786), and the founder of the University of Virginia (Charlottesville).
Missing in those three accomplishments is that he was our third president or that he negotiated the largest land addition to the United States in our history, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
We often hear today that many of our founding fathers were essentially unbelievers. Jefferson is often held up as a prime example of this. Yet he wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, which says our rights come from the Creator.
In 1777, the same year he wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he helped co-found, as a layman, an evangelical church, which called for an evangelical pastor. Jefferson wrote the by-laws for the church, saying that he and the other laymen were “desirous…of gospel knowledge” and wishing to have the Holy Scriptures explained to them. Jefferson gave more money for that church than any other layman.
The minister they called for that church, Rev. Charles Clay, was a patriotic pastor, ordained in the Anglican tradition. It was rare for ministers in that tradition to be evangelical or to be in favor of the American cause (as opposed to the British side), but Clay was.
Later, spiritually, Jefferson went on to harbor private doubts about the Trinity and other core doctrines of the Christian faith. These are well-documented in a book I co-wrote with Charlottesville pastor, Dr. Mark Beliles. The book is "Doubting Thomas," and it will soon have a new release (just in time for America at 250) as a shorter book, "Thomas Jefferson and the God Who Gave Us Liberty."
Meanwhile, the purpose of this piece is to look at how God keeps showing up at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Visit that monument, and you will see repeatedly references to God, chiseled in stone. That memorial was built from 1939 to 1943.
In the Rotunda, we see this quote from a letter Jefferson wrote to founding father Dr. Benjamin Rush: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
In the Southwest Portico comes these words from the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s magnum opus: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We...solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of a right ought to be free and independent states...and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour."
On the Northwest Portico, we see an excerpt from the afore-mentioned Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, described as “A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.”
It states: "Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or [burdens]...are a departure from the plan of the holy Author of our religion...No man shall be compelled to frequent or support religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively."
In the original, Jefferson said more about the “holy Author of our religion,” that is, Jesus Christ, about Whom Jefferson added, “who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on reason alone.” Said Jefferson: Jesus gave us religious freedom. We should extend the same to others.
In the Northeast Portico, we see Jefferson quotes from different writings of his: "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” [emphasis added]
The secularists of today try to strip away our Judeo-Christian heritage. But chiseled in stone in monuments all around Washington, D.C., we see that the founders cherished our God-given rights. And, certainly, that included Thomas Jefferson, as seen in the memorial dedicated to his memory.
[Author’s note: Here’s a discussion with Mark Beliles and me on God and the Jefferson Memorial]
Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is the executive director of the Providence Forum, an outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries. He has written/co-written 35 books, including George Washington’s Sacred Fire (with Providence Forum founder Peter Lillback, Ph.D.) and What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (with D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.).
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