Thomas Jefferson famously took a Bible and whittled it down. Using a razor, Jefferson sliced out miracles and references to the supernatural. He preferred a sanitized Jesus, focused more on moral principles than divine inspiration. Ironically, Jefferson failed to pay attention to even the scraps of Jesus left in his hands, fathering children by at least one slave and keeping numerous others in bondage.

People who twist the words of Jesus to meet their own ends never follow where the teachings of Jesus actually lead.

Jehoiakim, king of Judah, also took a razor to words from God. When presented with a scroll from Jeremiah the prophet, the king had it read by a secretary in his presence. Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them in the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, not did they tear their clothes.

Worse than destroying the scroll, Jehoiakim ignored the warning contained within. The king scorned the Lord and his prophet, even trying to arrest Jeremiah. Jehoiakim burned the scroll hoping to spoil the message. But slicing away the God-parts failed to remove God.

I’m left to wonder—what sections of Scripture do I slice away? What passages do I reject as culturally inappropriate? Which lines do I choose to forget? The Bible remains a formidable book. The hard parts push me beyond my zone of comfort. As I linger in its pages I learn of our amazing God, discovered better with a pen to underline than a penknife to cut out ideas I find disturbing.

Jeremiah 36 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Steven Weeks