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Lincoln grew up in a highly religious Baptist family. He never joined any Church, and was a skeptic as a young man and sometimes ridiculed revivalists. He frequently referred to God and had a deep knowledge of the Bible, often quoting it.‎Early years · ‎First Inaugural Address · ‎Later years · ‎After his assassination.
Table of contents

Every single one of the candidates, barring left-wing socialist Bernie Sanders who has approached the race in his characteristically unique way, has professed some kind of faith.


  1. Lincoln’s Faith.
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  3. The Madness Vase;
  4. The Seven Deadly Sins: Cambridge Writers Short Story Competition 2016.
  5. THE MURRAY LEINSTER OMNIBUS: The Wailing Asteroid; Operation Outer Space; Space Tug;

And not just any faith, either; Christian faith. They've campaigned hard for the so-called 'evangelical vote'; courting key Christian leaders like Jerry Fallwell Jr and Rick Warren. But while a rhetoric of persecution has emerged from the Republican movement, and Christians bemoan that the US is slipping away from its Christian roots, it seems to have escaped many across the pond that their country wasn't actually built on Christian principles at all. In fact, the constitution expressly states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States".

Thomas Jefferson famously referred to the First Amendment as erecting a "wall of separation between Church and State". The founding fathers were clear on one thing: America is a secular nation. That's not to say that those who have taken the presidency haven't had a faith; in fact, almost every single one has been a Christian.

What did Abraham Lincoln believe?

But two names stand out from the rest, as having "no formal affiliation" with any Christian Church: Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. One of America's Founding Fathers, Jefferson expressed unorthodox religious views. Raised in the Church of England in Virginia, he later abandoned traditional Christian teaching and was accused of secretly being a Muslim by his opponents something Obama has made references to a number of times, having himself faced similar accusations over the past eight years. Others, who knew the 16th president equally well, contended that he became an orthodox Christian who read the Bible regularly, prayed fervently, and frequently used scriptural passages and illustrations to express his personal convictions.

Unraveling what Lincoln truly believed is challenging for two reasons. To him, religion was a private matter between an individual and God. Unlike many other statesmen, he did not keep a diary or pen an autobiography, and he rarely shared his deepest beliefs in private letters. Second, as with Washington, much mythology confounds the historical record. To promote themselves, numerous ministers falsely claimed to have met with Lincoln, and others who actually did put improbable words into his mouth.

To discern his beliefs, historical facts must be separated from pious tales and unlikely legends. Assessments of his faith depend largely on which sources we accept as true. Because he played the pivotal role in a central event in American history, many seek to gain an advantage by enlisting him on their side of contemporary political, moral, economic or religious arguments.

But it did have the Bible, which Lincoln evidently read with great care.

The Puzzling Faith of Abraham Lincoln

His later speeches and ordinary conversation were peppered with biblical quotations and allusions. The third circumstance was instruction in reality by the coldest master—death. The passing of his mother when he was 9, the death of a beloved sister shortly after her marriage, the death of two sons in , and at the White House in , the death of several close friends in the early days of the Civil War his Civil War , and increasingly, the heart-wrenching lists of casualties from the battlefields —these left him no taste for easy believism, no escape from the mysteries of God and the universe.

The external Lincoln, casual about religious observance, hid a man of profound morality, an almost unbearable God-consciousness, and a deep belief in the freedom of God to transcend the limited vision of humanity. Such religious qualities are unusual in any age.

Column: The many gods of Abraham Lincoln

They were even more rare in the period of the Civil War when, for almost every one else, partisan passion transformed God from the Lord of nations into the servant of North or South. No matter how great the obstacles, William Carey expected great things and attempted great things. Your donations support the continuation of this ministry. When he spoke at ceremonies marking the recapture of Fort Sumter, Beecher made clear what he thought the conflict meant in the eye of God: "I charge the whole guilt of this war upon the ambitious, educated, plotting leaders of the South A day will come when God will reveal judgment and arraign these mighty miscreants And then these guiltiest and most remorseless traitors In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God.

Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God can not be for and against the same thing at the same time. I am almost ready to say this is probably true—that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest.

Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.

The Stunning Second Inaugural These notions developed more profoundly as the lists of casualties grew. The critical section of the address, complete with citations from Matthew and Psalm , deserves to be quoted in full: "Neither [side] anticipated that the cause of the conflict [i. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding.

Why his faith won’t suit either side in the culture wars.

Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully.


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  • Religious views of Abraham Lincoln.

    • The Almighty has His own purposes. If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope —fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.

    Here is the key passage of the circular: "That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular I do not think I could, myself, be brought to support a man for office whom I knew to be an open enemy of, and scoffer at, religion. Leaving the higher matter of eternal consequences between him and his Maker, I still do not think any man has the right thus to insult the feelings, and injure the morals, of the community in which he may live