A Jefferson Bible for the Twenty-first Century

The complete text of Thomas Jefferson's original cut-and-paste version of the Gospels, portraying Jesus as a wise but strictly human teacher, deliberately omitting what Jefferson called the "dross": the virgin birth, the miracles, the resurrection, etc. When Jefferson wrote, Christianity was virtually the only show in town. Today, Americans embrace a wide variety of religious belief -- and the lack thereof. "A Jefferson Bible for the Twenty-First Century" lists candidates for the "best" and "worst" excerpts from a variety of scriptures, including the Hebrew Bible, the Qur'an, the Bhagavadgita, Buddhist sutras, and the Book of Mormon, and invites reader opinions on the selections.