The second of three achievements Jefferson requested be inscribed on his tombstone, was author of the Virginia Statute for Religious fFeedom. For Jefferson, religion and religious freedom were lifelong preoccupations and his views continue to be discussed and debated. Today, our goals are to understand the context in which Jefferson formulated his ideas about religious establishments, why he considered religious freedom to be essential for the success of the American Republic, what Jefferson himself believed, and what he believed the future would hold. For the religious landscape of the United States. To begin his lecture, Mr. Onuf discusses what many of Jefferson's fellow revolutionaries viewed as the proper relationship between church and state in a republic. He also introduces us to Jefferson's bill for religious freedom. As Mr. Onuf notes, Jefferson was ecstatic when his bill was finally passed in Virginia. Why he was so excited is a helpful question to consider throughout the rest of the lecture. Jefferson's vision of religious freedom was starkly at odds with the situation in Virginia at the time of the revolution. There, as in many other colonies, a state religious establishment existed. Jefferson believed that state-supported and mandated religious denominations were the cause of many of the evils and conflicts that had beset European civilization for centuries. It was therefore troubling to him that even after the revolution, many states continued to maintain religious establishments, denying many Americans the right to worship freely, as they saw fit. In the third part of his lecture then, Mr. Onuf explains why Jefferson believed that in many ways the future of the new American Republic hinged on the separation of church and state. Indeed, many of Jefferson's allies in this fight were people of strong religious convictions. The threat of priest craft, to use Jefferson's term, was acute and potentially devastating to a Republican regime. That depended on the ability of citizens to give their informed consent in making decisions that affected everyone. People needed education in order to see through the mystifications and falsehoods that Jefferson believed many religious teachers offered to unsuspecting Americans. This finally, leads Mr. Onuf to discuss what it was that Jefferson himself believed. When asked by the curious about his faith, Jefferson often responded that he constituted a sect of one. Yet, while he did not adhere to a specific religious denomination, Jefferson maintained that he was indeed a Christian, he studied the Bible closely, but in an unusual way and with a particular goal in mind. The Jefferson Bible, that he compiled in the privacy of his home at Monticello, offers insights into what he viewed as the essential meaning of Christianity. Jefferson's life-long engagement with religious questions ultimately gave him hope that Americans enjoying freedom, would eventually come to lead more enlightened and moral lives. This lecture should help you gain a better understanding of why Jefferson insisted on re-configuring the role of the state in the religious life of individuals, why he rejected the establishments that had emerged in the old world of Europe, and had then been transported to British North America. You should also be able to explain why Jefferson believed that freedom of religion was so essential to the future of the United States. That he proudly claimed credit for his role in advancing that right.
