From the Atheist Law Center website:
FEBRUARY 18, 2004
STATUE OF JESUS TO FULFILL PROPHECY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON?
Larry Darby today suggested that Jefferson County (Alabama) Commission President Larry Langford’s proposal to put a marble bust of the Bible character Jesus on display on Red Mountain might fulfill a prophecy articulated by Thomas Jefferson in an 1823 letter to John Adams:
“And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter….”
It is noteworthy that Langford wants to place the bust of Jesus next to Vulcan, the Roman God of the Forge. Jefferson specifically referred to classifying the mythology of Jesus with Roman deities, Minerva and Jupiter....
...However, the Center does appreciate this proposed action by Langford, which in effect would be a Government statement that the Bible character Jesus is now classed with other mythological characters.
http://www.atheistlaw.org/news.cfm?the_start=7&records_to_display=3&n_type=Media%20Releases