The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is
formally titled, was Thomas Jefferson's effort to extract what he considered the
pertinent doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing
supernatural aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had
been added by the Four Evangelists. Using a razor, Jefferson cut and arranged
selected verses from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in chronological
order, mingling excerpts from one text to those of another in order to create a
single narrative. After completion of The Life and Morals, about 1820, Jefferson
shared it with a number