Lincoln and religion

[ReignetteC]

Re: "What a sublime picture was this! A ruler of a mighty nation going to the pages of the Bible . . . for comfort and courage."

A few weeks after President Lincoln's death, a "deeply afflicted" Mrs. Lincoln wrote a note of thanks to two volunteer nurses who came to the Executive Mansion to give her a Bible that was originally intended for the president. (She was too distraught to meet with them.)

". . . I am very sure my Beloved Husband would have been most grateful for the gift of a Bible-a book so very dear to him, and which it was his delight to read."

[L Verge]

As most of you know, I am not well-read in general Lincoln biographical material. However, from the little I have read, and certainly from the postings here, there seems to be many clues to the man's belief in a supreme being. Why have his scholars labored for so many years trying to decide whether or not he was religious?

[J. Beckert]

I think it's because he didn't have a conventional view on religion and belonged to no particular religion exclusively from start to finish. He once said he didn't like "cut and dried" sermons and liked to see someone look like he "was fighting bees" when preaching.

[RJNorton]

Ed Steers wrote a wonderful article on Lincoln's faith. It's entitled "A Question of Faith: Was Lincoln a Christian?" in the September, 1999, edition of "North and South" magazine (Volume 2, Number 7).

[My Name Is Kate]

After all Lincoln had been through, not the least of which was the Civil War, I can't see him not having faith in a God who takes a personal interest in the welfare of human beings and all of creation. He probably also had alot of anger and doubts, but what would be the alternative...belief in the survival of the fittest? Or the creature being morally superior to the Creator? If that were the case, there would be no need to worry about the consequences of one's actions as long as one got away with it here on earth. That would make for one scary, dangerous leader.

I imagine that Lincoln did alot of thinking about the nature of God. He must have felt a tremendous burden of responsibility for the deaths of so many soldiers, and he must have wondered how God felt about it. Maybe it occurred to him that, for reasons unknown to us, God was not able to step in and prevent the war, or end it sooner than it ended. Perhaps he realized that if God really did care about human beings, He must have felt even worse than Lincoln did about all the suffering. Maybe he realized that God does intervene in our lives, but usually not in the ways we wish for.

[LincolnMan]

Its truly an interesting topic. As one considers Lincoln and his "spiritual growth" as a person, there seems to be that running thread of "Calvinism" that is always there in the background in his thinking-that streak of predeterminism that would seem to go against the grain of human intervention. He refers to it often during his life in statements like "the will of God prevails," etc. On some level, however, even must have felt that humans could be agents of change in the divine scheme of things-or he wouldn't have acted as he did.

[My Name Is Kate]

Predeterminism is a strange concept. There is a big difference between knowing in advance what will happen, and everything being set in stone and no one having any free will. If Lincoln believed in that, I can see why he had a problem with religion.

[LincolnMan]

I think he more or less believed it. At least, I think it was part of his thinking. My guess would be, in talking about "Lincoln and religion," that that particular facet of Calvinism was one thing that instilled in his childhood from the Seperatist Baptist church he and his parents attended when he was young.

[RJNorton]

Bill, I agree. In 1864 Lincoln wrote Albert G. Hodges, "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me." To me, anyway, this fits with what you are saying.

[Thomas Thorne]

It seems to me Lincoln's attitude toward religion went thru three phases. First he was the precocious young man who enjoyed exercising his mind by mocking religion-second he was the rising politician who dared not offend his listeners by questioning the religious conventions of his time and place-and lastly the beleaguered wartime president lashed to the desperate necessity of condemning hundreds of thousands of his countrymen to their doom. Certainly nothing in his life had prepared him for that. One would be surprised if Lincoln had not turned to religious consolation which culminated in the epic piety of the Second Inaugural.

Everyone rightly quotes the "With Malice Toward None" peroration with its universal application to all wars. Perhaps the piety of the first part does not resonate as well in an increasingly secular world.
Tom

[Gene C]

Thomas, I'll disagree with you on one minor point. I not sure Lincoln mocked religion as much as he was mocking those who claimed to be religious, especially preachers who got a little over enthusiastic in proclaiming their message.

[LincolnMan]

Yet, throughout his life the running thread of "fatalism" was in Lincoln's thinking.

[Craig Hipkins]

I am curious to know what Lincoln thought of Evolution. Darwin, I believe, published The Origin of Species in 1859. I am sure that the subject must have been brought up in circles that Lincoln traveled within. Typically, the people who were Deists before Darwin and Huxley's theory became well known switched over to the Evolution Camp. Although, in 1860 it may have been politically expedient to stay away from the issue.

Craig

[RJNorton]

Good question, Craig. I did a search for Darwin in the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln and drew a blank. I also checked the Fehrenbachers' book to see if Lincoln had discussed this topic and found nothing there, either. Carl Sandburg mentions a letter Darwin wrote to Asa Gray, but this had nothing to do with Lincoln's thoughts or beliefs. So far I am drawing a blank on this one.

[LincolnMan]

I don't recall reading about Lincoln's thoughts on it anywhere.