Author Archives: Jerry Newcombe
75 Years After Independence
A misreading of Jefferson foisted separation of church and state (really, the separation of God and state) on America. The founding fathers, including Jefferson, would have vehemently disagreed with what has been happening as a result. About 75 years after the Revolutionary War, some critics challenged the concept that America …
The Authors Discuss “Doubting Thomas” on National Radio
On the Radio with Dr. Brown, Talking about Jefferson Posted by Jerry Newcombe on Mar – 11 – 2016 Dr. Michael Brown of www.askdrbrown.org interviewed Dr. Mark Beliles and me about our book on Thomas Jefferson, Doubting Thomas? The Religious Life and Legacy of Thomas Jefferson (Morgan James, 2015). For those who …
Misreading Jefferson Leads to Societal Chaos
Misreading Jefferson leads to societal chaos. Secular humanists for decades now have changed the First Amendment, which guarantees religious freedom, into one what one law professor has called “a search and destroy mission” for any sneaky vestiges of religion in the public square. The battle over church and state seems …
A Typical Example of Misreading Jefferson and Church and State
[Photo of Jerry Newcombe and Senator Jim Inhofe] The founding fathers gave us religious freedom, including the fact that there would be no national denomination. Court decisions of the last 70 years or so have turned the Constitution on its head, using a misinterpretation of Thomas Jefferson to give us …
Stop the Witch-hunt and Banning God from the Public Arena
Jefferson Had Unorthodox Views—But He Was Not As Anti-Christian As Today’s Critics Say
Was Jefferson a Christian?
Thomas Jefferson was a complicated man. He was an outspoken champion of freedom and opponent of slavery, yet he owned slaves virtually all his life and never freed them, not even upon death. Samuel Johnson Around the time of the American Revolution, Dr. Samuel Johnson in England asked a penetrating …
Summary of Jefferson and the Clergy
Most clergy in Jefferson’s lifetime were not antagonistic to him. Only later did this begin to be popular in some historical works of clergy. And similarly Jefferson was not universally opposed to the clergy. His anti-clericalism was clearly selective and focused, and for biographers to not make that distinction is …