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 To learn more about the book, see www.americapublications.org DOUBTING THOMAS contains previously unpublished documents including a dozen religious letters by Jefferson and two sermons by his pastor Charles Clay.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

Jefferson Writes Back His Long-time Pastor Friend, the Evangelical Charles Clay

The book DOUBTING THOMAS by Mark Beliles and Jerry Newcombe documents 2 overall points: 1) Jefferson was not a lifelong skeptic, and 2) he did not believe in a secular state—that there is to be a separation of God and government. For decades, our third president had a friendship with …

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News of Jefferson’s Unorthodoxy Reached his Longtime Pastor

It is not well known that early in life Thomas Jefferson, as a layman, helped found an evangelical church. This was a year after he wrote the Declaration of Independence, and it was the same year, 1777, that he wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. As a layman, in …

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The Inklings of the University of Virginia

Thomas Jefferson was not a lifelong skeptic. Our book, DOUBTING THOMAS, documents that. But he did harbor serious doubts about key Christian doctrines later in life. Furthermore, it is not accurate to say that Jefferson believed in the strict separation of church and state, the way the ACLU and …

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Jefferson’s Creeping Unbelief

[Pictured: photo by Jerry Newcombe of the Charlottesville courthouse, historic site of the evangelical church that Jefferson helped organize as a layman in the late 1770’s] Jefferson was not a lifelong skeptic. Nor did he believe that God should be banished from the public square. By today’s standards, he might …

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