Was Thomas Jefferson the AntiChrist?

The subject of our discussion in this review is The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration is defended in a book by Herb Titus entitled “The Declaration of Independence: The Christian Legacy.”

The book was published by Titus Publications in 1995. It defends the Constitution from the standpoint of its Christian text, Christian principles, and Christian worldview.

Mr. Titus argues that Thomas Jefferson lays the foundation for the Declaration of Independence in three biblical concepts. One is the law of God, defined by the phrase “laws of nature and of nature’s God.” Two is the creation of God defined by the phrase, “all men are created equal…” And three is the government of God defined by the phrase, “….appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions.”

In the second section Mr. Titus argues that Jefferson bases the Declaration on Christian principles of unalienable rights, consent of the governed, and the right of resistance. And in the third section he argues that Jefferson based the Declaration on a Christian worldview of 1) evident truths: God revealed, not man reasoned, and 2) self-evident truths: God imposed, not man adopted.

We have addressed most of these arguments elsewhere on this site. In this review we will focus on the man Thomas Jefferson and ask the question, “Is a man who believed what Thomas Jefferson believed capable of accomplishing all of the above?” We’ll leave it to you, kind reader, to make that determination.

One factor in evaluating the Declaration of Independence is, “who wrote it?” There were three primary authors: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson was the primary author with Adams and Franklin serving as editors to review and offer suggestions.

It is a fairly well-known fact that all three were unitarian in their approach to God and the Bible. All three, Thomas Jefferson included, denied that Jesus Christ was God. Many Christians will acknowledge this, but then brush it off as irrelevant. But is it?

In a letter to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, dated June 26, 1822 Jefferson wrote, “The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to the happiness of man. 1. That there is one only God, and he all perfect…. But compare with these the demoralizing dogmas of Calvin. 1. That there are three Gods.”

In the same letter he went on to say, “I rejoice that in this blessed country of free inquiry and belief, which has surrendered its creed and conscience to neither kings nor priests, the genuine doctrine of one only God is reviving, and I trust that there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die an Unitarian.”

Most Christians believe that the AntiChrist is a persecuting dictator who will arise in the end time. However, that is not the way the Bible defines the AntiChist. We have to decide if we will use the Bible definition or the definition of fictional books about Bible prophecy.

If we decide to take the biblical definition, we will discover that the antichrist is not singular, but plural. The Apostle John corrects the misconception that there is a single individual known as the antichrist. Rather he says there are many antichrists, who have departed from the truth or “went out from us.”

“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen…They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us” (I John 2: 18, 19).

Later in the same chapter (2:22) we read: “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.”

If we take the Bible as the Word of God, what else can we conclude but that Thomas Jefferson was an antichrist. Not the Antichrist, but an antichrist. In other words a heretic -- one who has departed from the faith or “gone out from us.”

The question then arises, “can we trust the word and work of a heretic?” Should we as Christians enshrine the words of a heretic as defining the essence of who we are as a people? Should we as Christians condone enclosing the words of a heretic in a glass case and parading past them in hushed silence and reverent awe like some idol.

How do you react to that paragraph? Does it sound like blasphemy in your ears? Do you feel like stoning the author? If so, who or what are we worshipping?

Are we here indulging in the “genesis fallacy?” That is the fallacy of arguing against a position because of its source or origin. Is it possible that Heretic Thomas Jefferson somehow took pen in hand, struck off a Christian document and presented it before God, Whose response was, “Well done, Thomas, thou good and faithful servant!”

Is it possible that antichrist is capable of, or willing to, defend the Lordship of Christ in the realm of civil government. I suppose anything is possible. God did make a donkey talk one time. As you are pondering that question, please consider some of the alternative explanations of what Thomas Jefferson might really have been saying and consider signing our Declaration of Dependence on God