Podcast with Dr. Mark Beliles on Jefferson and his Long-time Friend, Rev. Charles Clay
Topic: Thomas Jefferson and His Minister Friend, Charles Clay.
When the founders wrote the Declaration of Independence, they said that our rights come from the Creator, that is, God. Thomas Jefferson was the chief author of the first draft of the Declaration. When Jefferson referred to God, did he mean the God of the Bible? Jefferson had a friend for decades that most modern people do not know about, the Rev. Charles Clay, an evangelical minister. In 1777, the year after the Declaration, Jefferson wrote up the agreement for the establishment of an evangelical church in Charlottesville, with Rev. Clay as the pastor. Dr. Mark Beliles and Dr. Jerry Newcombe wrote a book on the faith or lack thereof of Jefferson, entitled, Doubting Thomas. Dr. Mark Beliles joins Jerry Newcombe to Jefferson’s decades long friendship with Rev. Charles Clay and potential impact on his political thinking.
