The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted Textually from the Gospels: The Jefferson Bible

In the early nineteenth century Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and principal author of the Declaration of Independence, conceived the idea of extracting a gospel purified of what he saw as extraneous philosophical, mythological, and theological elements. To do so, he took verses from the four canonical gospels and arranged them into a single narrative, focusing on the actual words of Jesus. This work was never published during Jefferson's lifetime, but was inherited by his grandson and printed for the first time in the early twentieth century. The original bound manuscript, often referred to as "the Jefferson Bible," is held by the United States National Museum in Washington.

Akashic Books presents a thought-provoking series of early writings from United States Presidents, starting this season with George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, and moving chronologically forward. Each slim book offers an introduction and additional commentary by a groundbreaking contemporary writer. This series is unlike any other Presidential commentaries in print, and is characterized by a critical viewpoint that will provide a counterpoint to the more staid analyses that have traditionally accompanied Presidential writings.