George Washington.....Thomas Jefferson.....Abraham Lincoln. Admittedly when I was in grade school these men were presented in such a way that an adult might brush it off as building up heroes for kids, but we citizens of the United States are the lesser for it if we do not explore these lives ourselves. The fact of the matter is that these men were more than extraordinary and that the word heroes does not do them justice.
Is there a man in American public life today with the analytical acumen of Abraham Lincoln? Well you would have to know something about Lincoln in order to understand not only his greatness but his genuine wisdom, and there are plenty of books out there that make these facts very clear. I want to recommened to just one....a 2014 publication titled Lincoln's Battle with God, A President's Struggle With Faith And What It Meant For America. (Thomas Nelson publisher) The author is Stephen Mansfield who has written a number of books and handled many and various topics of faith and America.
Let me start with this startling anecdote because the author started his book with it. It needs an explanation first because the words are so significant that objections will be made. This testimony came from a pastor in Springfield, Illinois who was informed directly by Mary Todd Lincoln. These would have been Abraham Lincoln's last words. The couple had taken a carriage ride that afternoon and while in the president's box at Ford's Theater, Mr. Lincoln continued the conversation they were having earlier in the day. After the war they would take a rest but not by going back to Springfield. President Lincoln spoke these last words to his wife....and then repeated them..."We will visit the Holy Land......We will visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footsteps of the Savior."
There is no doubt that a young and even a middle-aged Lincoln was more than a skeptic...he was an antagonist to the Christian religion and labelled an infidel by many Christians. This was his life and it is documented ad nauseam. How...surely many have wondered.....how could this infidel have made these statements?
The Christian knows, or should know, that the struggle in coming to believe in God and faith in Jesus Christ can be a long and arduous journey. We might know it from our own life and we therefore can extend great patience to others who appear to be losing in this their journey. The bold and brash statements against Christian churches by Abraham Lincoln in general can be acknowledged by the Christian today but not so easily etched into President Lincoln's tombstone, for the Christian who lives in his or her Bible and prays constantly day and night also understands first-hand what the grace of God can do in the heart of man. Others would indeed have more difficulty in bringing harmony between a young lawyer Lincoln and the 56 year old President.
So what happened to Abraham Lincoln in the last decade of his life? For the eight years of these posts I have tended to not give normal book reviews. I want the reader to actually read the book. If this one anecdote that I mentioned doesn't pique your interest in this matter then nothing will, but I will add that White House séances are also explored in-depth in the book. Abraham Lincoln's words and thoughts were cherished and preserved after his death so there is evidence upon evidence in this matter of his religious belief....and some of it supports a continued aversion to Christianity while some of it supports a quiet man whose serious reflections on life in general extended to his struggles with faith giving evidence that a great change had indeed taken place.
Now, There is more to being a Christian than promising words, we know that very well, but we can also see our own weaknesses and can at times at least give the benefit of the doubt to others also caught up in their own weaknesses. I cannot say with any kind of certainty that Abraham Lincoln ever made a profession of faith. I can say that I recognize very well the path that he was on and where that path usually leads.
You won't be disappointed in this book, and if you are a Civil War buff you won't be disappointed in it either. Stephen Mansfield writes very succinctly leaving the reader plenty of opportunity to meditate on what they are reading to make up their own mind.
Is there a man in American public life today with the analytical acumen of Abraham Lincoln? Well you would have to know something about Lincoln in order to understand not only his greatness but his genuine wisdom, and there are plenty of books out there that make these facts very clear. I want to recommened to just one....a 2014 publication titled Lincoln's Battle with God, A President's Struggle With Faith And What It Meant For America. (Thomas Nelson publisher) The author is Stephen Mansfield who has written a number of books and handled many and various topics of faith and America.
Let me start with this startling anecdote because the author started his book with it. It needs an explanation first because the words are so significant that objections will be made. This testimony came from a pastor in Springfield, Illinois who was informed directly by Mary Todd Lincoln. These would have been Abraham Lincoln's last words. The couple had taken a carriage ride that afternoon and while in the president's box at Ford's Theater, Mr. Lincoln continued the conversation they were having earlier in the day. After the war they would take a rest but not by going back to Springfield. President Lincoln spoke these last words to his wife....and then repeated them..."We will visit the Holy Land......We will visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footsteps of the Savior."
There is no doubt that a young and even a middle-aged Lincoln was more than a skeptic...he was an antagonist to the Christian religion and labelled an infidel by many Christians. This was his life and it is documented ad nauseam. How...surely many have wondered.....how could this infidel have made these statements?
The Christian knows, or should know, that the struggle in coming to believe in God and faith in Jesus Christ can be a long and arduous journey. We might know it from our own life and we therefore can extend great patience to others who appear to be losing in this their journey. The bold and brash statements against Christian churches by Abraham Lincoln in general can be acknowledged by the Christian today but not so easily etched into President Lincoln's tombstone, for the Christian who lives in his or her Bible and prays constantly day and night also understands first-hand what the grace of God can do in the heart of man. Others would indeed have more difficulty in bringing harmony between a young lawyer Lincoln and the 56 year old President.
So what happened to Abraham Lincoln in the last decade of his life? For the eight years of these posts I have tended to not give normal book reviews. I want the reader to actually read the book. If this one anecdote that I mentioned doesn't pique your interest in this matter then nothing will, but I will add that White House séances are also explored in-depth in the book. Abraham Lincoln's words and thoughts were cherished and preserved after his death so there is evidence upon evidence in this matter of his religious belief....and some of it supports a continued aversion to Christianity while some of it supports a quiet man whose serious reflections on life in general extended to his struggles with faith giving evidence that a great change had indeed taken place.
Now, There is more to being a Christian than promising words, we know that very well, but we can also see our own weaknesses and can at times at least give the benefit of the doubt to others also caught up in their own weaknesses. I cannot say with any kind of certainty that Abraham Lincoln ever made a profession of faith. I can say that I recognize very well the path that he was on and where that path usually leads.
You won't be disappointed in this book, and if you are a Civil War buff you won't be disappointed in it either. Stephen Mansfield writes very succinctly leaving the reader plenty of opportunity to meditate on what they are reading to make up their own mind.
