Abraham Lincoln: Was He A Christian? Part 19

As evidence of Lincoln's piety, we are referred to a picture where Lincoln, with his son Tad, is supposed to be reverentially poring over the pages of the Bible. The history of this picture, however, has often been explained, and its apparently religious character shown to be quite secular. The Boston _Globe_, in a recent issue, says: "The pretty little story about the picture of President Lincoln and his son Tad reading the Bible is now corrected for the one-hundredth time. The Bible was Photographer Brady's picture alb.u.m, which the President was examining with his son while some ladies stood by. The artist begged the President to remain quiet and the picture was taken. The truth is better than fiction, even if its recital conflicts with a pleasing theory."

CHICAGO HERALD.

During February, 1892, the Chicago _Herald_ published an editorial on Lincoln's religion. Being one of the latest contributions to this subject, and appearing in one of the princ.i.p.al journals of Lincoln's own state, it is of especial importance. It is a candid statement of what nearly every journalist of Illinois knows or believes to be the facts.

From it I quote as follows: "He was without faith in the Bible or its teachings. On this point the testimony is so overwhelming that there is no basis for doubt. In his early life Lincoln exhibited a powerful tendency to aggressive Infidelity. But when he grew to be a politician he became secretive and non-committal in his religious belief. He was shrewd enough to realize the necessity of reticence with the convictions he possessed if he hoped to succeed in politics.

"It is matter of history that in 1834, at New Salem, Ill., Lincoln read and circulated Volney's 'Ruins' and Paine's 'Age of Reason,' giving to both books the sincere recommendation of his unqualified approval.

About that time or a little later he wrote an extensive argument against Christianity, intending to publish it. In this argument he contended that the Bible was not inspired and that Jesus Christ was not the son of G.o.d. He read this compilation of his views to numerous friends, and on one occasion when so engaged his friend and employer, Samuel Hill, s.n.a.t.c.hed the ma.n.u.script from the author's hands and threw it into the stove, where it was quickly consumed. A Springfield friend said of him in 1838, 'Lincoln was enthusiastic in his Infidelity.' John T. Stuart, who was his first law partner, declares: 'Lincoln was an avowed and open Infidel. He went further against Christian belief than any man I ever heard. He always denied that Jesus was the Christ of G.o.d.' David Davis stated that 'Lincoln had absolutely no faith in the Christian sense of the term.'

"These authorities ought to be conclusive, but there is further testimony. This latter is important as explanatory of Lincoln's frequent allusions in his Presidential messages and proclamations to the Supreme Being. To the simplicity of his nature there was added a poetic temperament. He was fond of effective imagery, and his references to the Deity are due to the instinct of the poet. After his death Mrs. Lincoln said: 'Mr. Lincoln had no faith and no hope in the usual acceptation of those words. He never joined a church.' She denominates what has been mistaken for his expressions of religious sentiment as 'a kind of poetry in his nature,' adding 'he was never a Christian.' Herndon, who was his latest law partner and biographer, is even more explicit. He says: 'No man had a stronger or firmer faith in Providence--G.o.d--than Mr. Lincoln, but the continued use by him late in life of the word G.o.d must not be interpreted to mean that he believed in a personal G.o.d. In 1854 he asked me to erase the word 'G.o.d' from a speech which I had written and read to him for criticism, because my language indicated a personal G.o.d, whereas he insisted no such personality ever existed.' So it must be accepted as final by every reasonable mind that in religion Mr. Lincoln was a skeptic. But above all things he was not a hypocrite or pretender. He was a plain man, rugged and earnest, and he pretended to be nothing more. He believed in humanity, and he was incapable of Phariseeism. He had great respect for the feelings and convictions of others, but he was not a sniveler. He was honest and he was sincere, and taking him simply for what he was, we are not likely soon to see his like again."

MANFORD'S MAGAZINE.

There are two Christian publications that have had the fairness to admit the truth respecting Lincoln's belief. _Manford's Magazine_, a religious periodical published in Chicago, in its issue for January, 1869, contained the following: "That Mr. Lincoln was a believer in the Christian religion, as understood by the so-called orthodox sects of the day, I am compelled most emphatically to deny; that is, if I put faith in the statements of his most intimate friends in this city [Springfield]. All of them with whom I have conversed on this subject, agree in indorsing the statements of Mr. Herndon. Indeed, many of them unreservedly call him an Infidel." "The evidence on this subject is sufficient, the writer says, to place the name of Lincoln by the side of Franklin, Was.h.i.+ngton, Jefferson, and [Ethan] Allen, of Revolutionary notoriety, as Rationalists; besides being in company with D'Alembert, the great mathematician, Diderot, the geometrician, poet, and metaphysician; also with Voltaire, Hume, Gibbon, and Darwin."

Referring to the Infidel book, written by Lincoln, the writer says: "This work was subsequently thrown in Mr. Lincoln's face while he was stumping this district for Congress against the celebrated Methodist preacher, Rev. Peter Cartwright. But Mr. Lincoln never publicly or privately denied its authors.h.i.+p, or the sentiments expressed therein. Nor was he known to change his religious views any, to the latest period of his life."

The article concludes with these truthful words:

"Mr. Lincoln was too good a man to be a Pharisee; too great a man to be a sectarian; and too charitable a man to be a bigot."

HERALD AND REVIEW.

This work, in an abridged form, originally appeared in the _Truth Seeker_ in 1889 and 1890. After its appearance, the Adventist _Herald and Review_, one of the fairest and most ably conducted religious journals in this country, said:

"The _Truth Seeker_ has just concluded the publication of a series of fifteen contributed articles designed to prove that Abraham Lincoln, instead of being a Christian, as has been most strongly claimed by some, was a Freethinker. The testimony seems conclusive.... The majority of the great men of the world have always rejected Christ, and, according to the Scriptures, they always will; and the efforts of Christians to make it appear that certain great men who never professed Christianity were in reality Christians, is simply saying that Christianity cannot stand on its merits, but must have the support of great names to ent.i.tle it to favorable consideration."

CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Alden's American Edition of "Chambers's Encyclopedia," one of the most popular as well as one of the most reliable of encyclopedias, says: "He [Lincoln] was never a member of a church; he is believed to have had philosophical doubts of the divinity of Christ, and of the inspiration of the Scriptures, as these are commonly stated in the system of doctrines called evangelical. In early life he read Volney and Paine, and wrote an essay in which he agreed with their conclusions. Of modern thinkers he was thought to agree nearest with Theodore Parker" (Art.

Lincoln, Abraham).

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.

By whom the article on Lincoln in "Chambers's Encyclopedia" was written, whether by one of Lincoln's personal friends, or by a stranger, I know not. The article in the "Britannica" was written by his private secretary, Colonel Nicolay. In this article his religion is briefly summed up in the following words: "His [Lincoln's] nature was deeply religious, but he belonged to no denomination; he had faith in the eternal justice and boundless mercy of Providence; and made the Golden Rule of Christ his practical creed" (Am. Ed., vol. xiv, p. 669).

This statement at first glance presents a Christian appearance, and the reader is liable to infer that the writer aims to state that Lincoln was a Christian. But he does not. He aims to state in the least offensive manner possible that he was not--that he was simply a Deist. A person may have a "deeply religious" nature, and not be a Christian. He may have "faith in the eternal justice and boundless mercy of Providence,"

and yet have no faith whatever in Christianity. He may make "the Golden Rule of Christ [or Confucius] his practical creed," and at the same time wholly reject the dogma of Christ's divinity. The above statement is substantially true as applied to Lincoln, and it would be equally true if applied to that prince of Infidels, Thomas Paine. His nature was deeply religious; he had faith in the justice and mercy of Providence; and he, too, made the Golden Rule his practical creed.

PEOPLE'S LIBRARY OF INFORMATION.

Mrs. Lincoln was nominally a Presbyterian, and frequently, though not regularly, attended the Rev. Dr. Gurley's church in Was.h.i.+ngton. Lincoln usually accompanied her, not because he derived any pleasure or benefit from the services, but because he believed it to be a duty he owed to his wife who, in turn, generally accompanied him when he went to his church, the theater. "The People's Library of Information" contains the following relative to his church attendance:

"Lincoln attended service once a day. He seemed always to be in agony while in church.... His pastor, Dr. Gurley, had the 'gift of continuance,' and the President writhed and squirmed and gave unmistakable evidence of the torture he endured."

THE WORLD'S SAGES.

In "The World's Sages," Mr. Bennett writes as follows concerning Lincoln's belief: "Upon the subject of religious belief there is some diversity of claims. All his friends and acquaintances readily admit that in early manhood and middle age he was an unbeliever, or a Deist.

In fact, he wrote a book or pamphlet vindicating this view. His most intimate friends that knew him best, claim that his opinions underwent no change in this respect; while a certain number of Christians have, since his death, undertaken to make out that he had become a convert to Christianity" (World's Sages, p. 773). "When the contradictory character of the evidence is taken into consideration, together with the fact that his nearest and most intimate friends would be most likely the ones to know of Mr. Lincoln's change, had any such taken place, the incredibility of the a.s.serted change is easily appreciated" (Ibid, p-774).

THE EVERY-DAY LIFE OF LINCOLN.

In the Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation appears the following paragraph, which contains the only allusion to Deity to be found in this immortal doc.u.ment: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Const.i.tution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty G.o.d."

The appearance of the above paragraph in the Proclamation is thus accounted for in Francis F. Brown's "Every-Day Life of Lincoln," and agrees with Judge Usher's and Chief Justice Chase's account of it:

"It is stated that Mr. Lincoln gave the most earnest study to the composition of the Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation. He realized, as he afterward said, that the Proclamation was the central act of his administration, and the great event of the Nineteenth Century. When the doc.u.ment was completed, a printed copy of it was placed in the hands of each member of the Cabinet, and criticisms and suggestions were invited.

Mr. Chase remarked: 'This paper is of the utmost importance, greater than any state paper ever made by this Government. A paper of so much importance, and involving the liberties of so many people, ought, I think, to make some reference to Deity. I do not observe anything of the kind in it" (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, pp. 549,550).

The amendment suggested was allowed by the President, and Mr. Chase requested to supply the words he desired to be inserted. The paragraph quoted was accordingly prepared by him and included in the Proclamation.

This fact is also admitted by Holland in his "Life of Lincoln" (p. 401).

HON. JESSE W. WEIK.

Judge Weik, of Greencastle, Ind., who was a.s.sociated with Mr. Herndon in the preparation of his "Life of Lincoln," in a lecture on "Lincoln's Boyhood and Early Manhood," delivered in Plymouth Church, Indianapolis, Feb. 4, 1891. said:

"As a young man he sat back of the country store stove and said the Bible was not inspired, and Christ was not the Son of G.o.d"

(Indianapolis News, Feb. 5, '91).

CHARLES WALLACE FRENCH.

One of the last biographies of Lincoln that has appeared is "Abraham Lincoln The Liberator," written by Charles W. French. After citing with approval some of Mr. Herndon's statements regarding Lincoln's belief, Mr. French says:

"The world was his [Lincoln's] church. His sermons were preached in kindly words and merciful deeds" (p. 91).

CYRUS O. POOLE.

I quote next from a monograph on "The Religious Convictions of Abraham Lincoln," written by Cyrus O. Poole. Referring to Arnold's and Holland's biographies of Lincoln, Mr. Poole says: "Most sectarians now think, write, and act as if they had a copyright to apply 'Christian' to everything good and G.o.d-like about this President; yet no one presumed to call him a Christian until after his death. It may be a soul-saving process like the ancient one of Pope Gregory in the sixth century. It is related that one day he was meditating on an anecdote of the Pagan Emperor Tragan's having turned back, when at the head of his legions on his way to battle, to render justice to a poor widow who flung herself at his horse's feet. It seemed to Gregory that the soul of a prince so good could not be forever lost, Pagan though he was; and he prayed for him, till a voice declared Tragan to have been saved through his intercession. And thus, through the prayer of a Christian Pope, a pagan of the first, was materialized into a Christian in the sixth century, and was, of course, transferred from h.e.l.l to heaven. Now behold how a modern politician [Arnold] can play theologian in Christianizing Abraham Lincoln.

"There is now hope for Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, as well as the chieftains, Red Jacket, Tec.u.mseh, and Black Hawk."

Respecting Lincoln's message to his dying father, Mr. Poole, himself a firm believer in the doctrine of immortality, says: "This prophetic affirmation of a continued existence, is the only written evidence of his views on this momentous question that can be found."

In addition to the above, I cull from the same work the following brief extracts:

"He lived in a remarkably formative and progressive period, and was in all matters fully abreast with his time. As a truthful thinker, he greatly excelled any of the statesmen of his day."

"Lincoln, like Socrates, was a man so natural, so thoughtful, rational, and sagacious, that he clearly saw that the popular traditional theology of his day and age was not religion."

A CITIZEN OF SPRINGFIELD.

A gentleman residing in Springfield, Ill., who was intimately acquainted with Lincoln from the time he located in that city up to the time he removed to Was.h.i.+ngton, a period of nearly twenty-five years, in a letter dated Aug. 20, 1887, writes as follows: "I will say in regard to Mr.

Lincoln's religious views that he was not orthodox in his belief, unless he changed after he left Springfield. He was heterodox--did not believe in the divinity of Christ--in short, was a Freethinker. Now I do not want to be brought into public notice in this matter."

In deference to this writer's request his name is omitted, and this omission destroys, to a great extent, the value of his testimony. It is inserted not because it adds any particular weight to the evidence already adduced, but as a specimen of a very large amount of evidence of the same character that must be withheld simply because the persons writing or interviewed shrink from publicity. A chapter, yes, a volume, of this anonymous testimony might be given. At least a hundred personal friends of Lincoln, living in and about Springfield, privately and confidentially a.s.sert that he was an Infidel, but will not permit their names to be used. Twenty years ago a majority of them would not have objected to their statements being published: but the relentless war waged by the church against those who have publicly certified to the facts has sealed their lips.

HENRY WALKER.