AHA: A Jefferson Bible for the Twenty-First Century

[Alex]

SCRIPTURES GO UNDER THE KNIFE IN A JEFFERSON BIBLE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Copies being delivered to President Obama, 113th Congress
http://www.americanhumanist.org/news/details/2013-01-scriptures-go-under-the-knife-in-a-jefferson-bible-f

(Washington, DC – Jan. 3, 2013) – What Thomas Jefferson did for the Bible, the American Humanist Association did for the world’s other major religious texts—in Jefferson’s words, separated “the gold from the dross.”

A Jefferson Bible for the Twenty-First Century includes Jefferson’s famously edited version of Christianity’s holy text, but this updated offering also includes similarly edited versions of the Hebrew Bible, the Qur’an, the Bhagavadgîtâ, the Buddhist Sutras, and the Book of Mormon. ...

The original Jefferson Bible, fully entitled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was created by Jefferson literally cutting and pasting passages he found worthy. His effort has stood alone for over two centuries as an example of how a revered religious text can be improved by extracting what’s good and relevant, while leaving behind what’s questionable, immoral or unnecessary for people skeptical of the supernatural. ...

“In 1901, the U.S. Congress felt that the Jefferson Bible was of such great value that it authorized the printing of nine thousand copies for itself”

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Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.



Alex's comment:  

1.  A good and concise definition of humanism:

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.

人文主義是一個進步的人生哲學。沒有有神論，它肯定我們有責任過一個對自己和人類都具備價值的道德生活。

2.  The Book of Mormon does not deserve the scissors.  How can it be on the same par as other historical scriptures?  《摩爾門經》怎有資格與其他歷史悠久的宗教經典平起平坐？

[Alex]

The Bible According to Thomas Jefferson
Peter Carlson
18 February 2012
The Humanist
http://thehumanist.com/magazine/march-april-2012/features/the-bible-according-to-thomas-jefferson

...Jefferson wrote, “I am a real Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” He called Christ’s teachings “the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.” He urged “getting back to the plain and unsophisticated precepts of Christ.” ...

...Jefferson wrote that “Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God.” He called the writers of the New Testament “ignorant, unlettered men” who produced “superstitions, fanaticisms, and fabrications.” He called the Apostle Paul the “first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus.” He dismissed the concept of the Trinity as “mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus.” ...

...In 1957 Frank Church, a newly elected senator from Idaho, took the oath of office and was presented with a copy of Jefferson’s Bible. Two years later, he gave it to his son, Forrest Church, who eventually became a prominent Unitarian Universalist minister and the editor of an edition of the Jefferson Bible. ...