THE UNKNOWN SPIRITUAL & RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF ABE LINCOLN

  THE UNKNOWN SPIRITUAL & RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF ABE LINCOLN

In pursuit of the truth - http://www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com - Monday, January 5, 2015

A. Abraham Lincoln's struggle with the spiritual dimensions of the conflict that was tearing the nation asunder had assumed Herculean proportions. From his 1862 meditation: October 1

" 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 great power on the minds of now contestants, he could 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." Johnson, Lincoln, 98

B. Speaking on this day in 1862 to group of Quaker headed by Eliza Gurney, Lincoln said: Oct. 6

"We are indeed going through a great trial - a fiery trial. In the very responsible position in which I happen to be placed, being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father, as I am, and as well we all are, to work out Hi great purposes, I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to His will, and that it might be so, I have sought His aid." Johnson, Lincoln, 97

C. On this day in 1864, after the fall of Atlanta to Sherman's army, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation for a second annual day of Thanksgiving, on the last Thursday in November: Oct. 21

"And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid, that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust, and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations." Johnson, Lincoln, 159

D. Abraham Lincoln would seldom let his passion break forth in public utterance. But in private he would write: October 25, Lincoln, Works, I, 178

"Here without contemplating consequences, before High Heaven, and in the face of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, my liberty and my love ... Let none falter, who thinks he is right, and we may succeed."

E. In 1854, after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Lincoln could sense that the nation was sliding toward civil war: October 26, Lincoln, Works II, 276

"Our republican robe is soiled and trailed in the dust. Let us repurify it. Let us turn and wash it white, in the spirit, if not the blood of the revolution ... Let us re-adopt the Declaration of Independence, and with it, the practices, and policy, which harmonize with it... If we do this, we shall have so saved it, as to make, and to keep it, forever worthy of the saving."

F. On this date in 1872, J. A. Reed related in a letter to a friend what President Abraham Lincoln had said to him in late December, ten years before: November 14, Johnson, Lincoln, 102

"I hold myself in my present position and with the authority vested in me as an instrument of Providence. I have my own views and purposes. I have my convictions of duty, and my notions of what is right to be done. But I am conscious every moment that all I am and all I have is subject to the control of a Higher Power, and that Power can use me or not use me in any manner, and at any time, as in His wisdom and might may be pleasing to Him."

G. On this day in 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. During the darkest days of he Civil War, a minister said to the sixteenth President that he hoped the Lord was on their side. Lincoln thought for a moment before replying: February 12, Carpenter, White House, 125

"I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right." He paused. " But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I - and this nation - should be on the Lord's side."

H. In 1865, to a visiting delegation of Presbyterian ministers from Baltimore, Abe. Lincoln stated:

"I was early brought to living reflection that nothing in my power whatever ... would succeed without the direct assistance of the Almighty ... I have often wished that I was a more devout man than I am. Nevertheless, amid the greatest difficulties of my Administration, when I could not see any other resort, I would place my whole reliance in God, knowing that all would go well, and that He would decide for the right." Lincoln Works, VI, 536-37

GEORGE H. KUBECK

     THERE HAVE BEEN 12,000 BOOKS ON LINCOLN. TODAY, WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR THIS NATION IS HOW MANY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR OFFICE IN 2016 HAVE THE RELIGIOUS MAKE-UP OF ABE LINCOLN? THE REST ARE NOT WORTHY TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF U.S. PRESIDENT. BUT WAIT, OUR NATION HAS A JUDEO-CHRISTIAN HERITAGE. SENATOR JOSEPH LIBERMAN WOULD HAVE BECOME AN EXCELLENT PRESIDENT.