DOUBTING THOMAS by Mark Beliles and Jerry Newcombe

When Jefferson was a young man he acted as a professing Trinitarian Christian

In 1777. Jefferson helped found an evangelical church

Now in print---for the first time ever---many religious letters and 2 sermons from the church that Jefferson funded and attended

Jefferson encouraged non-coercive religion in public life and the right of state governments to decide religious policy

DOUBTING THOMAS by Mark Beliles and Jerry Newcombe

This new book presents new evidence that calls into question the view that Jefferson was a lifelong skeptic and that he believed in the "naked public square"

When Jefferson was a young man he acted as a professing Trinitarian Christian

Later in life Jefferson changed in his views, privately, to a more unorthodox position. But the point here is that he was not a lifelong skeptic.

In 1777. Jefferson helped found an evangelical church

The same year he wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson helped create the Calvinistical Reformed Church of Charlottesville.

Now in print---for the first time ever---many religious letters and 2 sermons from the church that Jefferson funded and attended

DOUBTING THOMAS contains in the Appendix about a dozen religious letters of Jefferson that have never been in print before now, plus two sermons by Rev. Charles Clay, whose ministry Jefferson supported.

Jefferson encouraged non-coercive religion in public life and the right of state governments to decide religious policy

Jefferson approved and attended regularly the Christian worship services held Sundays at the US Capitol building and in his local courthouse. He refrained from issuing national religious proclamations but had no objection to state proclamations.

Fresh Insights About Jefferson's Religious Views Based on NEW Evidence

"DOUBTING THOMAS? The Religious Life and Legacy of Thomas Jefferson" by MARK A. BELILES and JERRY NEWCOMBE deals with the faith---or the lack thereof---of one of our most important founding fathers. But this volume provides NEW information, some of which has not been in print before. To learn more about the book, see www.americapublications.org DOUBTING THOMAS contains previously unpublished documents including a dozen religious letters by Jefferson and two sermons by his pastor Charles Clay. Jefferson voluntarily joined and donated to Clay’s Calvinistical Reformed Church of Charlottesville.

RIGHTS UNDER THE KING OF KINGS

Jefferson felt that one of his life’s greatest achievements was writing the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, a type of forerunner to our First Amendment with its guarantee of religious freedom. What is interesting about this document is that he bases our freedom on a theological foundation. He writes: “Almighty …

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John Locke and the Declaration of Independence

John Locke was influential to Jefferson’s political thinking. Law professor Gary Amos notes, “One cannot understand John Locke without reading Paul.”[1] He adds, “Intuitive reason, according to Locke, is ‘a revelation from God to us by the voice of reason,’ which causes us to know a natural truth which we had not …

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Jefferson Drew from Christian Sources

PHOTO OF Bill Federer, quoted in here, talking on the radio with Jerry Newcombe, co-author of “Doubting Thomas.” Jefferson drew from sources deeply rooted in centuries of political writings from mostly Christian sources. Even if many of these sources are sometimes are categorized as “Englightenment thinkers,” the fact of the …

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On the Phrase “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”

Sometimes, some modern writers argue that Jefferson was speaking in a Deistic way when he used the phrase “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” Is that true? Gary Amos provides a compelling critique to that canard. He points out that it was in common usage by Christian sources, …

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