[File photo by Jerry Newcombe] Thomas Jefferson’s beautiful and godly wife tragically died while in the process of giving birth to another daughter. Both mother and daughter died. This may well have been a personal tragedy from which Jefferson never recovered. After Christmas 1782, Jefferson traveled to Philadelphia to serve in …
In our book, DOUBTING THOMAS on the faith and life of Thomas Jefferson, we show that our third president was actively a church member—yet it wasn’t always easy to continue in church because of some of the congregations disbanding, such as is the case of the one described below (Calvinistical …
Sometimes, one is left with the impression that Thomas Jefferson had declared virtual war against any man of the cloth. He’s certainly on record for opposing a state-established church. That often became the engine for persecution against religious dissidents. Jefferson opposed that very clearly. But many of his friends were …
When Thomas Jefferson was governor of Virginia, his personal faith was evident through his continuing support of Rev. Clay and the Calvinistical Reformed Church. On August 15, 1779, he recorded in his account book that he “Paid Rev. Charles Clay in consideration of parochial [i.e., church-related] services.” And on the …
The power for the Virginia government to proclaim public days of prayer in Bill #85 was applied by Jefferson while Governor of Virginia in 1779. On November 11, Governor Jefferson issued a “Proclamation for a Public Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.” The official document began: “By his Excellency Thomas Jefferson, Esq. Governour or Chief …
This is a blog that will make more sense if you check the previous entry. The bottom line is, as Governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson pushed for a plethora of bills related to religion. Rather than prove him to be an anti-Christian zealot, many of these bills showed a respect …
As we noted in a recent blog, Dr. Daniel Dreisbach, professor at American University, wrote that in 1779, Thomas Jefferson, then serving as governor of Virginia, was the “chair of the Virginia Committee of Revisors,” and as such “he was chief architect” of the set of religious bills that were …
A general revision of all laws in Virginia was necessary once America was independent of England. Virginia’s leaders needed to decide how much of the English legal system they would keep as is, and what they would modify to more accurately represent them as independent Virginia Americans. Thomas Jefferson and his …
Thomas Jefferson was not a lifelong skeptic. But he was a lifelong donor to Christian causes. He took meticulous notes of his gifts to various Christian causes. For example, in November 1777, he donated some of his money to a Christian school—we know it today as Washington and Lee University. …
Our book “Doubting Thomas” shows that it’s a myth that Thomas Jefferson was a lifelong skeptic. In fact, he was very generous virtually all his life to many causes, including many Christian clauses. One man he supported a lot through the years—financially and in other ways—was an evangelical preacher, ordained …