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 To learn more about the book, see www.americapublications.org DOUBTING THOMAS contains previously unpublished documents including a dozen religious letters by Jefferson and two sermons by his pastor Charles Clay.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.

Paul Johnson on the Declaration of Independence

Some secular-minded scholars like to imply that the Declaration of Independence was not only an assertion of independence from Great Britain, but also from God. But is that true? The great British historian, Paul Johnson, author of A History of the American People, penned this about the Declaration of Independence: …

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Some of the Christian Inputs to the Declaration of Independence

Gary Amos says of the Declaration of Independence, “The ideas were not Jefferson’s, but the writing was. And it was magnificent.”[1] The important point, too, is that these were Christian ideas. In 1775, an assembly of Presbyterian elders from Mecklenburg, North Carolina, led by Elder Ephraim Brevard (a man who …

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“Endowed by their Creator”

America is predicated on one thing: Our rights come from God. Again, that’s what the Declaration of Independence says. The Constitution is predicated on the Declaration. Our 1776 birth certificate explains why we exist. The Constitution then explains how our government is to work. The Constitution is signed in the …

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“The General Principles of Christianity”

When they were both older men, and no longer political rivals, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson began to correspond. Benjamin Rush helped bring them back together. Some of their correspondence is very helpful to understand the men, at least in later life. One time, John Adams was ruminating on the …

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