Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

The "divinity" of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity

Not John Adams — a modern paraphrase John Adams 1735–1826 · second President of the United States
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

Adams never wrote this sentence. It is a reworded splice of two entries in his diary. On 13 February 1756 he wrote, in the margin, “Thus mystery is made a convenient Cover for absurdity.” On 18 February 1756 he asked where the Gospel requires “Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Subscriptions and whole Cartloads of other trumpery.” The words “divinity,” “Doctrines,” “foolish” and “Christianity” were added later.

Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Disputed wording — copy with the correction

“The "divinity" of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity” not John Adams’s wording; a modern paraphrase of his diary entries of 13 and 18 February 1756 (“Thus mystery is made a convenient Cover for absurdity”). Via Quotle.info

Can you use it?

We couldn’t establish where this was first published, so there’s no rights status to give. Credit it as shown above — just don’t present it as public domain, and get permission for commercial or published reuse.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of John Adams — Lawyer, diarist & second President of the United States. Theme: "The "divinity" of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "The "divinity" of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

What Adams actually wrote

Work
Diary of John Adams, entries for 13 and 18 February 1756
Printed in
The Works of John Adams, ed. Charles Francis Adams, vol. 2 (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1850), pp. 4–6
Modern edition
Adams Papers Digital Edition, Massachusetts Historical Society (Diary of John Adams, vol. 1)
Popular wording
Not in either entry. Wikiquote lists it as spurious.

[13 February 1756] Major Greene this Evening fell into some conversation with me about the Divinity and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ. All the Argument he advanced was, “that a mere creature, or finite Being, could not make Satisfaction to infinite Justice, for any Crimes,” and that “these things are very misterious.” [In the margin:] Thus mystery is made a convenient Cover for absurdity.

[18 February 1756] The following Question may be answered some time or other—viz. Where do we find a praecept in the Gospell, requiring Ecclesiastical Synods, Convocations, Councils, Decrees, Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Subscriptions and whole Cartloads of other trumpery, that we find Religion incumbered with in these Days? Two entries, five days apart

This is the Massachusetts Historical Society transcription, with Adams’s own spelling. The 1850 Works prints the same lines in modernized spelling (“cart-loads,” “encumbered”). In neither version does Adams call the divinity of Jesus a cover for absurdity. His target is the appeal to “mystery.”

Diary of John Adams, 13 February 1756 (Massachusetts Historical Society)

How we verified this

  • Wikiquote lists the exact wording under “Spurious quotations” on its John Adams page ↗ and describes these as “apparent fabrications; derived from statements by Adams, but with significant alterations and additions.” It notes the line was attributed to Adams in William Edelen’s Spirit (1988), p. 4.
  • The real “convenient Cover for absurdity” line is a margin note in Adams’s diary entry for 13 February 1756 ↗. Its subject is “mystery”: a friend’s claim that the doctrines he was defending were “very misterious.”
  • The “precept” and “trumpery” half comes from a separate entry for 18 February 1756 ↗. Its list has no “Doctrines,” never uses the word “foolish,” and complains of “Religion,” not “Christianity.”
  • Both genuine lines appear in print in The Works of John Adams, vol. 2 (1850) ↗, edited by his grandson Charles Francis Adams.

The popular wording is a modern paraphrase. Wikiquote finds it in a 1988 book, but no original work by Adams contains it, so we assert no copyright status for it. The genuine diary lines Adams wrote in 1756 were printed in The Works of John Adams, vol. 2 (1850), and are in the public domain in the US.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

How a diary note became a manifesto

The popular version takes two real entries from Adams’s diary, five days apart, joins them, and rewrites them. The changes turn a young man’s complaint about “mystery” and church formalities into a direct attack on the divinity of Jesus and on Christianity.

The popular composite Paraphrase

“Mystery” becomes the scare-quoted “divinity” of Jesus. “Doctrines” and “foolish” are added. “Religion incumbered with in these Days” becomes “in Christianity.” Compare the 13 February ↗ and 18 February 1756 ↗ entries.

William Edelen, Spirit (1988) Cited by Wikiquote

Wikiquote gives this book (p. 4) as where the exact wording was attributed to Adams. It adds that the line “seems to paraphrase portions of two diary entries.” See Wikiquote: John Adams ↗.

Ernest A. Steadman, Pathway to the Stars (2007) Shorter variant

Wikiquote records a shorter version, “The doctrine of the divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity,” attributed to Adams in this book (p. 66), and calls it “another paraphrase of the entry for 13 February 1756.” See Wikiquote ↗.

What Adams actually wrote: “Thus mystery is made a convenient Cover for absurdity” (diary, 13 February 1756 ↗). The “divinity” version is not his wording.

Context

Why the rewording matters

The real entries are a private diary from February 1756, written long before Adams entered public life. In the first, a friend has been defending the “Divinity and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ” and falls back on calling these things “very misterious.” Adams notes in the margin that mystery is being used to cover absurdity. Five days later, after an evening of talk about the purpose of Christianity, he asks where the Gospel requires synods, creeds, oaths and “whole Cartloads of other trumpery.”

The popular version keeps the bite but changes its target. It makes Adams dismiss the divinity of Jesus and “Christianity” outright, in words he never used. Arguments about the Founders’ religion often turn on single quotations, so the difference matters. People on every side should quote the diary itself.

Thus mystery is made a convenient Cover for absurdity.

Line-by-line differences

“The ‘divinity’ of Jesus is made…” — Adams wrote “Thus mystery is made…” (13 February 1756).

“Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for…” — Adams asked a question: “Where do we find a praecept in the Gospell, requiring…” (18 February 1756).

“Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines” — Adams listed “Ecclesiastical Synods, Convocations, Councils, Decrees, Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Subscriptions.” There is no “Doctrines.”

“whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity” — Adams: “whole Cartloads of other trumpery, that we find Religion incumbered with in these Days.”

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Doubt Truth Simplicity

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Diary of John Adams, 13 February 1756masshist.org

The genuine “Thus mystery is made a convenient Cover for absurdity” margin note, in the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Adams Papers Digital Edition.
Diary of John Adams, 18 February 1756masshist.org

The genuine “whole Cartloads of other trumpery” question about creeds, confessions and oaths.
The Works of John Adams, vol. 2 (1850)archive.org

A scan of the 1850 edition by Charles Francis Adams that prints both diary entries.
Wikiquote: John Adamsen.wikiquote.org

Lists this wording under “Spurious quotations” and traces it to William Edelen’s Spirit (1988).
Don’t Ask Adamsmapskeysclocks.blogspot.com

A 2011 blog post that sets the spurious versions beside the two diary entries they paraphrase.

The author

About John Adams

John Adams

1735–1826 · Lawyer, diarist & second President of the United States

John Adams was a Massachusetts lawyer and revolutionary leader. He served as the second President of the United States from 1797 to 1801. He kept a diary from his youth, and its frank early entries on religion and church authority are the real source behind this popular quotation. His grandson Charles Francis Adams printed the diary in The Works of John Adams (1850).

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Genuine source of the paraphrased lines

John Adams, diary entries for 13 and 18 February 1756, in The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, ed. Charles Francis Adams, vol. 2 (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1850), 4–6. The popular composite wording is attributed to Adams in William Edelen, Spirit (1988), 4, per Wikiquote.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-divinity-of-jesus-is-made-a-convenient-cover-for/

Something wrong on this page?

Tell us what’s off. A link helps but isn’t required — “this is the wrong person” is a useful report on its own. Nothing here changes the page directly; it goes to our review queue and a human checks it.

Only used to tell you if we act on your report. We never sell or share it.

Copied