Toward the end of his life, Thomas Jefferson took a razor blade and glue to the Bible—literally. He cut out the parts he didn’t agree with, keeping only what aligned with his own reasoning. The result? A reassembled text now known as the Jefferson Bible.
In a way, Jefferson was trying to distill Scripture down to what he thought was essential. But in doing so, he didn’t just edit the Bible—he rewrote the faith to fit his own understanding.
I’m not here to criticize Jefferson. But I do think we fall into the same trap more often than we realize.
How often do we pick and choose what we want to believe?
How often do we accept the parts of Catholicism that are comfortable, while quietly setting aside the ones that challenge us?
When we do this, we don’t end up with the Catholic faith—we end up with our own version of it. And that’s a dangerous thing, because at that point, our faith is no longer in God. It’s in ourselves.
True faith means accepting the whole Gospel, even the parts that stretch us, challenge us, or make us uncomfortable.