Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian?Remsburg, John E. (John Eleazer)
Religion
Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian?
Remsburg, John E. (John Eleazer)
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Religion
Another friend and admirer of Lincoln was Orin B. Gould, of Franklin
Furnace, O. Mr. Gould was one of the noted men of Southern Ohio. He
was a man of sterling worth and extensive knowledge, and was familiarly
known as the "Sage of the Furnace." He became acquainted with Lincoln
in Illinois at an early day, and a close friendship existed between them
while Lincoln lived. Mr. Gould survived his illustrious friend nearly a
quarter of a century, dying recently at his beautiful home on the banks
of the Ohio. Previous to his death the question of Lincoln's religion
was presented to him and his own views on the subject solicited. His
response was as follows:
"He, like myself, recognized no monsters for Gods. He, like myself,
discarded the divinity of Christ, and the idea of a hell's fire. He,
like myself, admired Christ as a man, and believed the devil and evil to
be simply 'truth misunderstood.' He, like myself, thought good wherever
found should be accepted and the bad rejected."
M. S. GOWIN.
Mr. Gowin, an old and prominent citizen, and a Justice of the Peace, of
McCune, Kan., in a recent article, has this to say regarding Lincoln:
"I lived near Springfield, Ill., from the time that I was a child, and
at the time Lincoln came before the people, and during the time he was
President, his enemies called him an Infidel, and his friends did not
deny it."
COL. ROBERT G. INGERSOLL.
On the eighty-fourth anniversary of Lincoln's birth, Col. Ingersoll
delivered in New York his masterly oration on Abraham Lincoln. In this
oration he affirmed that the religion of Lincoln was the religion of
Voltaire and Paine. Immediately after its delivery Gen. Collis, of New
York, addressed the following note to Col. Ingersoll:
"Dear Col. Ingersoll: I have just returned home from listening to your
most entertaining lecture upon the life of Abraham Lincoln. I thank you
sincerely for all that was good in it, and that entitles me to be frank
in condemning what I consider was bad. You say that Lincoln's religion
was the religion of Voltaire and Tom Paine. I know not where you get
your authority for this, but if the statement be true Lincoln himself
was untrue, for no man invoked 'the gracious favor of Almighty God' in
every effort of his life with more apparent fervor than did he, and
this God was not the Deists' God but the God whom he worshiped under the
forms of the Christian Church, of which he was a member. I do not write
this in defense of his religion or as objecting to yours, but I think it
were better for the truth of history that you should blame him for what
he was than commend him for what he was not.
"Sincerely yours,
"Charles H. T. Collis."
In answer to the above Col. Ingersoll penned the following reply:
"Gen. Charles H. T. Collis,
"My dear sir:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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