Thomas Jefferson and the Creator

Psalm 100:3
“Know ye that the LORD he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

Respect for the name Thomas Jefferson reaches far beyond the United States and far beyond the English language.

By the time Jefferson was 14, he could read four languages. He later learned three more. Jefferson’s legacy goes far beyond his accomplishments in law and government. He also made his mark in the fields of mathematics, architecture, medicine, agriculture, literature, education, music and science. He earned three doctorates. And he served as president of the American Philosophical Society, America’s leading scientific organization of the time, for nearly 20 years.

One might think that Jefferson would have accepted the evolutionary ideas that were being circulated then by such people as Charles Darwin’s grandfather. However, while Jefferson was a deist rather than a Christian, he spoke and wrote against evolutionary ideas and in favor of a Creator. He based his argument that belief in a Creator is more scientific than evolution on the precise and interrelated design that is visible everywhere in the creation. If you would like more information, we recommend the book The Real Thomas Jefferson, published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies in 1981.

We thank God that His handiwork is so clear in the creation that one does not even have to be a Christian to know that He is Creator. God’s most earnest desire for all is that seeing this much, we might be drawn to His forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

Prayer:
Dear Father, grant me fresh and clear eyes to see with new wonder, every day, Your magnificent handiwork in the creation. Help me to thank You each day for Your forgiving love to me through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Notes:
Wehling, R.J. 1991. “Thomas Jefferson speaks out on origins.” Bible-Science Newsletter, v. 29:3, Mar. p. 1.