Take into account an apostle, according to Meriam-Webster definition number 2 is “a person who initiates a great moral reform or who first advocates an important belief or system.” American Founding Father and 3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson was the 1st American President of Science and Thomas Didymus was the only Scientist in the New Testament. Thomas Didymus, apostle and scientist needed to see facts and evidence.
KJVHB Jhn 20:27 "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust itinto my side: and be not faithless, but believing."
KHVHB Jhn 20:28 "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."
KJVHB Jhn 20:29 "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
“What you might not know about Jefferson was that he was a "statesman of science. For over 20 years, and simultaneously while U.S. President, Jefferson served as president of the ‘American Philosophical Society’, the preeminent scientific foundation at the time (and coincidentally founded by Benjamin Franklin).”
“In this dual role, President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) effectively served as America's scientific leader, as well as its political leader. “During the American Revolution, he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted the law for religious freedom as a Virginia legislator, and served as a wartime governor (1779–1781).
“Jefferson, while primarily a planter, lawyer and politician and mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and mechanics. He was an architect in the classical tradition. Please read Jefferson’s entire phenomenal political history in reference citations. “Jefferson's keen interest in religion and philosophy led to his presidency of the American Philosophical Society; he shunned organized religion but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. “Presidential scholars and historians generally praise his public achievements, including his advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance in Virginia. Jefferson continues to rank highly among U.S. presidents.
President Jefferson developed a rational religion. From this deep intellectual's mind and rationalism evolved an affirmation of faith rather than a rejection of religious belief. Jefferson believed that Humans are allowed to extract, examine and recite from the gospels at the beginning of context. "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear" Jefferson said.
“He defined his faith as a belief supported by reason. Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln were the 2 classic American presidential theologians. Theology was characterized as interpreting the life of a people in the light of a transcendent reference. 9.
“Thomas Jefferson was there described as a man with intense spirituality, a person in the light of a transcendent reference. His life's history revealed an remarkable self-transcendence. “He believed in natural law, in natural reason, and in our accessible God. He was critical of "priest-craftery" and institutional religion. Jefferson's beliefs put him at odds with what many churches taught.
Many of our statesmen and Jefferson believed that this new republic of America needed to rely upon virtuous and moral citizens and that religion was a major grounding for or instrument of virtue and morality. 9. Priest-craftery is about priests who use their religious influence to control affairs outside their church as well as inside the church.
The statesmen believed that one could not base laws upon supernatural revelations, as in the Bible, since the citizens could not agree on which revelations were divine, or how to interpret them, or what to do about those who could believe in none of them. 9. Interpretation of the Bible was, therefore, an important concept during the foundation of America. Jefferson believed that the Christianity, as intended by Jesus Christ, was corrupted by the clergy of Ultra-Christian sects who deliberately fabricated events that were beyond human understanding to render lay people dependent upon the church and clergy and thereby increase the wealth of their church and sect.
“Thomas Jefferson strived to return to the primitive purity and simplicity of Christianity. He was a demythologized Christian. He rejected myth, mystery and the supernatural. The cornerstone of his religion was one God, the Creator, and Sustainer of the universe. “Thomas Jefferson wrote ‘The Philosophy of Jesus’ and ‘the Life and Morals of Jesus.’ In writing to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson said the "the movements of the heavenly bodies so exactly held their course by balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces, the structure of the earth itself, with its distribution of lands, waters, and atmosphere, animal and vegetable bodies, examined in all their minutest particles, insects mere atoms of life, yet perfectly organized as man or mammoth, the mineral substances, their generation and uses, it is impossible for the human mind....not to believe in our Supreme Being".
“Jefferson praised Jesus for making the one true God worthy of human worship inasmuch as he took for his type of the best qualities of the human head and heart, wisdom, justice, goodness and adding to them power, ascribed all of these in infinite perfection to the Supreme Being.
But Thomas Jefferson, like Thomas Didymus, questioned "artificial systems invented by Ultra-Christian Sects and not authorized by a single word of Jesus". He questioned the supernatural. 9. “Where Thomas Didymus questioned the resurrection, Jefferson scorned the traditional doctrine of 3 persons in one God, the Trinity. Jefferson had a good argument for his rejection.
His well taken argument was that the Ultra-Christian sects had relapsed back into polytheism. The Trinity was like another Cerberus in mythology with 1 body and 3 heads. As pointed out previously the Nicene Council and Creed were responsible for that editing flaw in our Holy Bible. Jefferson felt this the most evil corruption of Christianity. He was defending pure Christianity as taught by Jesus and rejecting corrupt Christianity. 9.
“Traditional Christianity was rejected as an insult to the authentic teaching of Jesus by Jefferson. Traditional Christianity was unacceptable to a rational man because its fundamental doctrines were basically mysteries that could not be comprehended by human reason. Three persons as one God was a corruption of polythesim. 9. “The resurrection was questioned by apostle Thomas Didymus. Jesus perpetuated the belief of one true God worthy of human worship. That was the traditional Christian and Jewish belief during Jesus' life, the belief of one true God. That was a meme, an imitation or a cultural tradition that spread from one group of people to another at that time.
“Jesus purified and perfected human thought, wisdom, justice, heartfelt emotions, love, tolerance, goodness and service to God into a power that influenced people during his lifetime and after his lifetime to believe in one true God worthy of their worship. That was the philosophy of Jesus; with that philosophy, what a resultant religious institution. “What an awesome thought. God gave one person, Jesus, that power, the perpetuation of religious tradition for generations with a pure, primitive, simple, reasonable, rational, interpretation of His Word. Possibly, in years that follow, a church will emerge with that doctrine and in a Rational Religion.
Jesus was the one anointed with the Word of God. The Word of God was the Son of God. Only Thomas Didymus, 1 of the original 12 apostles, did not have blind trust. The other 11 original apostles had faith that, possibly, required no visual evidence. This author has no evidence for the other 11. But 1 out of 12 of the original apostles, 8.33%, did require visual evidence.
Thomas Didymus did not have blind trust or faith that Jesus was resurrected for the dead. Was it possible that 8.33% of Jesus' disciples, as well as apostles, who were professed Christians, needed visual evidence and doubted ?
Jesus did not cast out apostle Thomas Didymus for his doubt and his understanding that Jesus was a twin, the son of man and the son of God (God's Word). A fascinating aspect of the Bible, the Bible makes room for all possible circumstances and interpretations. In God's wisdom, room is carved out for the scientific thinker in the scriptures. Many are the doubting Thomases who are Christians today. Questioning is healthy.
God allowed for people who require evidence. Jesus did not cast out apostle Thomas Didymus for his doubt. Belief in God, through Jesus, the Christ, is available in more than one prescribed interpretation. Yet, the alternative can likewise be acceptable by open minded Christians. This publication is for the Christians and want-to-be Christians like Thomas. It is for people who believe in God, his creations in this universe, and Jesus, the Christ, our redeemer, who was a human prophet, a mortal man who was created like all God's children according to God's natural law and science.
This publication is also for the 8.33%, who, like Thomas required more than blind trust. According to the Gospel of John, God has allowed us that option. This book is for the 8.33% who must process the workings of the clock's inside. There were many writers in the Bible, but God was the only author, and there are many interpretations of the Bible, but Jesus, the Christ, was the interpreter of God's Word for primitive Christians. The interpretation of God's Word by Jesus, the Christ, does not support current Christian religious practice, because current practice for the majority is not pure, primitive, simple, reasonable, rational Christianity.
The Holy Bible is God's creation and God's Word and is amenable to more than one allegorical interpretation by contemporary Christians. Christians are advised to live life like Jesus, the Christ. Likewise, contemporary Christians should interpret the Bible as Jesus, the Christ interpreted His Word. An accepted practice of religion are Bible study classes. Students engage in lively debate about the hidden meanings in Bible scriptures. There are many interpretations. The Christian imagination traditionally engages in deeply symbolic interpretations of the Bible. That is how God wants us to engage, but God wants us to interpret His Word like Jesus, the Christ.
Jesus taught in parables. After hearing the stories, one could arrive at their own conclusions. God knows that if one arrives at their own conclusion, after the deductive process, their trust in the conclusion will be on firm rock. Each parable's conclusion strengthens the rope and rock for climbing God's Mountain with both Thomases. [17. Alice Farrell , Psychologist] Even Christians can agree not to agree about an allegorical interpretation. They, like Thomas, should not be cast out or stoned. After all, they arrived at their interpretation from reading the Bible. Jesus was crucified for preaching the gospel. Scientists should not be crucified for preaching their allegorical interpretations of the gospel after careful study of the Bible, particularly if it approaches the philosophy of Jesus.
The Didymus name of apostle Thomas was taken from the Greek word Didumos, singular and Didumoi, plural. The etymology therefore of Didymus, taken from the Greek meaning of the stem root of the word means testicles, twin, double.
The anatomical word epididymis is also derived from the same stem root word. "These are the secret words that the Living Jesus spoke, which Didymus Judas Thomas wrote down. And he said, 'whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death'." The Gospel of Thomas begins with that statement. The Gospel of Thomas is not included in our canonized Bible. It was left out, as were many others. This author did not find Judas as part of his name in the King James Bible. Holy bible editors elected to leave out scriptures that did not meet their theological objectives.
Thomas Didymus was a long-forgotten and long-suppressed major figure in Christianity. He was a close companion to Jesus and recorded many of Jesus' words. Thomas' writings projected Jesus, not as the Messiah or part of the godhead, as he appears in the canonical gospels. Was that the reason the Gospel of Thomas was not placed in our Bible ? Was his teaching contrary to the traditional Ultra-Christian church, but acceptable to Jesus Christ?
The gospel of Thomas was discovered in 1945 in the Nile Valley in Egypt. It dates from the late first century to second century. They are a list of 113 statements attributed to what apostle Thomas Didymus recorded. Full discussion of these are beyond the scope of this tome. The Gospel of Thomas can be easily found. Thomas Didymus began the Eastern Christian Church. The first Christian Church in India was attributed to his ministry.
Was the approach to the eastern Hindu believers different from the approach to the Western Christian Church believers centered in Jerusalem and later in Rome? Was the approach of Christian ministry to the Hindu, Near and Far East different?
Were allegorical interpretations of God's Word and his teachings different in the East than West? After all, the Western Christian Church was controlled and centered in Rome. There is no Biblical documentation that Jesus Christ had a twin. No one believes he did. No one has found that Thomas had a twin. So, what did testicle, twin or double mean or imply when used with the name of Apostle Thomas? This author believes it points to the philosophy of Thomas Didymus. It points to his missionary profession and how he was to conduct his works.
Thomas Didymus was to reveal the mystery of Jesus, the Christ. The occupational title was like describing a Jewish carpenter. His philosophy was that Jesus Christ was a person with 2 name components, noun and adjective. He viewed Jesus as Human flesh and a soul filled with Devine word and Spirit. The twins were the son of man, Jesus in the flesh, and the Christ, or son of God, the Word of God, the Devine Word.
The duplicity of Jesus, the Christ was that of a human being combined in a perfect union with the Word of God. The human Jesus was born a twin of the Word of God. The virgin birth of Mary was the birth of the Word of God. One seed of the twin, Jesus, was a normal natural human birth and the other seed a virgin birth, that required no fertilization, because the Father of the Word of God was in Heaven.
The pure perfect union was the beginning of pure perfect Christianity. No hocus pocus was necessary. Jesus was the twin, not Thomas. Thomas Didymus was teaching the duplicity of Jesus. A man of human flesh and the Word of God, or son of God, were joined together twins. The duplicity or twin of purified and perfected human thought, wisdom, justice, heartfelt emotions, love, tolerance, goodness and service to God with the Word of God was a power to reckon with. Biblical mysticism is eliminated with that allegorical interpretation. It is a simple rational step up God's Mountain.
Bible scriptures, when read with the allegorical substitution of the Word of God in place of Christ is an easy, logical method telling the story of Jesus and his philosophy without inconsistency and conflict of natural law and moral teachings. Scientist will understand this allegorical method and believe that Jesus was the Mediator, Redeemer and, on planet earth, he was a man of human flesh who was anointed by God with the Word of God.
The duplicity theory of Jesus explains that the virgin birth was the birth of the Word of God. The resurrection was the resurrection of the Word of God. Christians need not contemplate the inconsistency suggested by some Western-Ultra-Christians who believe a literal interpretation supernatural myth and mysterious polytheistic god like the god of mythology, Cerberus, with 1 body and 3 heads.
This scientific investigator concluded from in depth research of the King James Version of the Holy Bible that the worship of any other, than our one God, is unwise and ill-advised. Christians should praise Jesus, the Christ, or Word of God, for mediation, delivering the Word, teaching the appropriate manner to worship our one and only God in Heaven, who in the physical sense, was never on planet earth.
This scientific investigator concluded from scripture that there are 3 that bear record in Heaven, not a Triune God, but our Father, His Word, and the Holy Spirit. These are one. [1 John 5:7 KJV HB] Our one God sent his Word to earth to save the world. God, His Word, and the Holy Spirit are purified monotheism, that Jesus taught.
- 9. Jefferson and Religion by Eugene R Sheridan, 1998
- 10. The Times Atlas of the Bible, ed. James B. Pritchard, 1996
- 11. The Peoples Chronology James Trager, 1992
- 12. Gnostic Apostle Thomas, Twin of Jesus, by Herbert Christian Merillat, 1997
- 13. Jesus, God or the Son of God, by Brian Holt, 2002
An educational video by David Holmes, retired religion professor, College of William and Mary on the ‘Life and Morals of Jesus’ by Thomas Jefferson, stated, “Jesus never claimed to be God.” Holmes continued, “Thomas Jefferson was described by some as a Conservative Unitarian. Jefferson scoffed at the notion by corrupters of Jesus’ history, that there were sometimes 3 persons who were sometimes 1 and 1 person who was sometimes 3, which made no sense to Jefferson.
“Jefferson said, If humans could restore what Jesus actually thought and said, not what the corrupters, who controlled Christianity after the death of Jesus, thought Jesus thought and said, humans would be much better served by Christianity.”
President Jefferson was a devout Christian who said Jesus was the moral human example, a moral exemplar and Jesus teachings were best system of morals taught in world history. Holmes said, “Jefferson believed in prayer and afterlife, Creation of everything by God, a reason centered religion because reason causes a stronger religion, even stronger than revelation. “Jefferson believed that prayer is very beneficial and has a purpose, religion was Monotheistic and god is the God of reason not irrationality.
Jefferson also believed that the main tenants for Christianity are 1. A Jesus centered belief in one God alone, who is perfect, religion, is monumental and 2. there will be a future state of rewards and punishments for everyone by our God, 3. Love God and thy neighbors as thyself. Those 3 are the sum of Christian Religion. Jefferson sought to restore the primitive Christianity with Jesus’ actual thoughts, messages and behaviors and dissuade preaching Jefferson didn’t believe, miracle stories, virgin birth, and resurrection and dissuade the Trinity, because neither God nor Jesus could have been sometime 3 and sometimes 1 different bodies.
