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
The noted author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had several interviews with the
President. She wrote an article on him which has been cited in proof
of his "deeply religious nature." But if her words prove anything, they
prove that he was not an evangelical Christian. They are as follows:
"But Almighty God has granted to him that clearness of vision which he
gives to the true-hearted, and enabled him to set his honest foot in
that promised land of freedom which is to be the patrimony of all men,
black and white; and from henceforth nations shall rise up and call him
blessed. _We believe he has never made any religions profession_, but we
see evidence that in passing through this dreadful national crisis,
he has been forced by the very anguish of the struggle to look upward,
where any rational creature must look for support. No man in this agony
has suffered more and deeper, albeit with a dry, weary, patient pain,
that seemed to some like insensibility. 'Whichever way it ends,' he said
to the writer, 'I have the impression that I shan't last long after it's
over'" (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, pp. 575, 576).
Mrs. Stowe was herself an orthodox Christian communicant, but her
store of good sense was too great to allow her to inflict her religious
notions upon the unbelieving President, and, as a consequence, she did
not see him rush out of the room with a Bible under his arm to--I was
going to say--pray God to deliver him from an intolerable nuisance.
That the mighty burden which pressed upon Lincoln made him a sadder
and more serious man at Washington than he had been before is true.
Christians are always mistaking sadness for penitence and seriousness
for piety, and so they claim that he experienced a change of heart.
HON. JOHN P. USHER.
Christians and Theists are wont to speak of Lincoln's constant and firm
reliance upon God. But it is a little remarkable that in the preparation
of his greatest work he did not rely upon God. In the supreme moments
of his life he forgot God. Dr. Barrows says: "When he wrote his immortal
Proclamation, he invoked upon it... 'the gracious favor of Almighty
God.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account