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
One of the most important, and in some respects the most eminent witness
summoned to testify in regard to this question, is the Hon. David Davis.
In moral character he stood above reproach, in intellectual ability,
almost without a peer. Every step in his career was marked by unswerving
integrity and freedom from prejudice. His rulings and decisions in the
lower courts of Illinois, and on the bench of the Supreme Court of the
United States, commanded universal respect. As a legislator, his love
of truth and justice prevented him from being a political partisan. As
United States Senator and Vice-President of the United States, the party
that elected him could obtain his support for no measure that he deemed
unjust. Referring to his acquaintance with Lincoln, Judge Davis says: "I
enjoyed for over twenty years the personal friendship of Mr. Lincoln.
We were admitted to the bar about the same time, and traveled for many
years what is known in Illinois as the Eighth Judicial Circuit. In 1848,
when I first went on the bench, the circuit embraced fourteen counties,
and Mr. Lincoln went with the court to every county." A large portion
of this time they passed in each other's company. They often rode in
the same vehicle, generally ate at the same table, and not infrequently
slept together in the same bed. The closest intimacy existed between
them as long as Lincoln lived, and when he died, Mr. Davis became his
executor. Judge Davis would not intentionally have misrepresented the
opinions of an enemy, much less the opinions of his dear dead friend.
Briefly, yet clearly, he defines the theological views of Lincoln:
"He had no faith, in the Christian sense of the term--had faith in laws,
principles, causes, and effects--philosophically" (Life of Lincoln, p.
489).
Speaking of the many stories that had been circulated concerning
Lincoln's religious belief, such as the Bateman and Vinton interviews,
together with the various pious speeches he is reported to have made
to religious committees and delegations that visited him, such as his
reputed speech to the Negroes of Baltimore, Judge Davis says:
"The idea that Lincoln talked to a stranger about his religion or
religious views, or made such speeches, remarks, &c, about it as are
published, is to me absurd. I knew the man so well. He was the most
reticent, secretive man I ever saw, or expect to see" (Ibid).
MRS. MARY LINCOLN.
But one of Lamon's witnesses remains--the wife of the martyred
President. Her testimony ought of itself to put this matter at rest
forever. Mrs. Lincoln says:
"Mr. Lincoln had no hope, and no faith, in the usual acceptation of
those words" (Life of Lincoln, p. 489).
In addition to what Colonel Lamon has presented, Mrs. Lincoln also
stated the following:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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