I figured I should read this eventually. I mean look at this thing. It cuts off the miraculous bookends of Jesus’ life and focuses on the Enlightenment-friendly moralizing. There was nothing in here I hadn’t heard before, but reading it in all in one go made me remember how many common phrases come out of the Bible. A quick run-through, just from the Sermon on the Mount:
- blessed are the…
- salt of the earth
- light of the world
- town upon a hill
- turn the other cheek
- left hand knowing what the right hand is doing
- serving two masters
- can’t serve God and mammon
- lilies of the field
- ye of little faith
- tomorrow will worry about itself
- just not, lest you be judged
- cast pearls before swine
- seek and you will find
- do to others what you would have them do to you
- wolf in sheep’s clothing
- by their fruit you will recognize them
- bearing bad fruit
And that section is only, what, 2500 words? That’s some influential shit.
The Jefferson Bible – The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth by Thomas Jefferson
Mark Larson 