I've kept trying to finish this, thinking that it would be helpful to understand a bit more of the dark side of my friend Jefferson, but honestly, I just can't get into it - and in fact, care very little.

He certainly had wildly shifting views that changed very much over his lifetime - he certainly believed in a type of Christianity that, at times, can scarcely be called Christianity - and still, at times, has echoes of the religion. He was an idealist, really, but in some ways, too much of a pragmatic.

All the same, I decided not to finish it, after skim-reading through more of it, because I just don't care. I'm very glad for the things he did for this country - but having a general overview of his religious thoughts, just to give me a well-rounded idea of the man, is enough.

Might be interesting for someone who wants more on him!

I really don’t know how to react to this book. It was difficult to read. I know that Thomas Jefferson didn’t think, as many of our forefathers or others in our country, the same on religion. But they all agreed on the freedom of religion and not making a certain denomination of religion (christianity) head of our country. That was the wall of separation he wrote about to the Danbury Baptist Church. That is why our new country was established. What I didn’t know was how far away from the Bible he was. He believed in God. He was not an atheist. But he didn’t believe in an afterlife. At least, that’s what this author states. He believed in Jesus, but not that he was the Son of God. He just believed God sent Him and had him do some supernatural things to lead others to God, if I understand right. I don’t agree with this author on some things he believes Jefferson meant or believed in his writings, But there are some of what I do believe because of what history teaches us of Jefferson. I don’t believe today we can actually know completely who a person was in history and so I am grateful for Jefferson’s beliefs on religious freedom that made this country, the United States of America, then and today. I believe some of his thoughts are controversial, but it seems he changes his mind a lot, as if he is constantly learning and I believe he was, though I don’t agree with his learning at all times. Though I don’t agree with a lot of what he did believe, what he did believe that I agree with him on is what , in my thinking, helped make our country free. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review #AmericanMessiah with my honest review.

Will The Real TJ Please Stand Up? Growing up as I did inside the Southern Baptist Church of the Moral Majority/ "Conservative Resurgence" era, Jefferson was one of those Founding Fathers frequently cited in defense of... well, somehow both sides of the issue of religion in the public sphere. Here, Holowchak does a deep dive into the evolving religious beliefs of the infamous Founding Father and third President of the United States of America. And y'all... Holowchak makes it crystal clear that if good ol' TJ were alive today, he would recognize very little - if anything - of what constitutes the American Church today. Utterly fascinating read, but in a very academic way. If you're looking for a more conversational approach to this topic... this aint it. But if you're looking for a well documented critical examination of exactly what this infamously aloof former President actually believed based on his writings and correspondences... this is exactly what you're looking for. Very much recommended.