Jefferson and Religion

Throughout Jefferson’s life he never actually categorized himself completely under one religion. He could have fallen under a number of religions, from a Deist, to a Unitarian, to a Christian. Although in a few instances Jefferson did call himself a Christian, I do not believe that he actually was a Christian. To be a Christian you actually have to believe in the miracles that are in the Bible and Jefferson did not. I believe that Jefferson was more of a Deist. Jefferson believed in philosophers and in reason more than he believed in the Virgin Mary, and that Jesus was the son of God. Deism fits Jefferson quite well, the fact that he believes in a greater power, and that there is a God, but that reason and philosophers are also correct. Jefferson believed that there was something greater than we could explain out there, that there was in fact a God, but he denied the belief in miracles or that Jesus was truly Gods son, so with that small fact there was no possible way that Jefferson could be a Christian. He also was heavily influenced by philosophers, which the Deist religion is too. Deists do not believe in miracles or in the inerrancies of the bible, while Jefferson only used the bible as a historical source. Knowing that Jefferson did not believe in miracles, but believed in reason instead lead to the conclusion of believing that Jefferson’s best fit for religion was Deism.