Reveille in Washington, 1860 - 1865 by Margaret Leech

[David Lockmiller]

(11-25-2017 09:27 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  "Was to be" is past tense, not predictable by humans, and the Bible itself states so:
"...also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." (Ecclesiastes 3)

I must admit at the outset that I have very little knowledge of the Bible, and especially German sayings regarding the Bible. Thank goodness for Google. I had no idea whatsoever what "he hath set the world in their heart" meant. So, I Googled the meaning of the phrase.

The German meaning apparently is: "Man is oppressed with what German thinkers have named the Welt-Schmerz, the world-sorrow, the burden of the problems of the infinite and unfathomable Universe."

But it also seems to me that there are this and other parts of Ecclesiastes 3 which have direct application to the last paragraph of President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, to wit:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
8 …a time of war, and a time of peace.
10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

[Eva Elisabeth]

@David re.: "The German meaning apparently is: 'Man is oppressed with what German thinkers have named the Welt-Schmerz, the world-sorrow, the burden of the problems of the infinite and unfathomable Universe.'"

NO, David, the German saying refers to positive, happy situations/incidents/developments as well and has nothing to do with Weltschmerz nor oppression.

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(But I'm glad despite you like Ecclesiastes 3.)

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PS: I hope you know the Weltschmerz is a romantic concept coined by Jean Paul in the 18th century (he also coined the "Doppelgänger" motif in literature), that also influenced such authors as Lord Byron, Oscar Wild and John Steinbeck.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltschmerz

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This reminds me of a song:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qURAnrk30ng

[David Lockmiller]

(11-27-2017 07:02 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  @David re.: "The German meaning apparently is: 'Man is oppressed with what German thinkers have named the Welt-Schmerz, the world-sorrow, the burden of the problems of the infinite and unfathomable Universe.'"

NO, David, the German saying refers to positive, happy situations/incidents/developments as well and has nothing to do with Weltschmerz nor oppression.

I am not an expert (not even an amateur) on German sayings. But the following is my source. It's in the right hand column under the heading "Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges"

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ecclesiastes/3-11.htm

[Eva Elisabeth]

As for the German saying I AM an expert, and as for Ecclesiastes - my take on the lines is a slightly different and less Weltschmerzy one than that of those Cambridge translators.

[My Name Is Kate]

I find it interesting that some of the same people who reverence individuals from the past who they see as having preserved democracy for future generations, also advocate modern-day liberalism, which is the leading cause of the ongoing demise of democracy in the world.

[David Lockmiller]

(11-25-2017 02:56 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  I counter-counter with President Lincoln's conversation that he had early in his presidency with the Chief of the Army, Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott.

This was my mistake regarding the rank of Winfield Scott. He was not a Lieutenant-General.

"Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of Vicksburg and Chattanooga, arrived in the nation's capital on March 8, 1864, to take command of all the Union armies. A grateful Congress had revived the grade of lieutenant general, not held since George Washington, and Lincoln nominated Grant to receive the honored rank. With Grant's permission, Halleck became chief of staff, and Sherman assumed Grant's old command of the Western armies."

-- "Team of Rivals," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, page 614.