Lincoln and Other Abolition Era Leaders
Any balanced evaluation of Lincoln would report that he was a complete infidel before he went off to Washington. The Civil War resulted in a substantial increase in religiosity in this nation. Lincoln certainly did not wish to offend those who were religious. The fact remains that it was very unlikely that he was ever a religious person. For an in depth understanding of the details, Franklin Steiner’s book titled Religious Beliefs of Our President’s (1936) is highly recommended. The Chapter on Lincoln is titled “Abraham Lincoln, Deist, and Admirer of Thomas Paine.” (10)
References:
(1) J.F.Maxwell, ‘The Development of Catholic Doctrine Concerning Slavery’, World Jurist 11 (1969-70) pp.306-307.
(2) Southern Baptists
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/sbaptists.html
(3) Upton Sinclair, The Profits of Religion available on the web at http://www.opgc.org/books/prfrl10.txt
(4) Life. Vol. iii. Page 224.
(5) Encyclopedia Britannica, 'Women in American History' available on the web at http://search.eb.com/women/articles/Mott_Lucretia_Coffin.html
(6) Susan Jacoby, Freethinkers, A History of American Secularism, quote re Mott from p85; p66 to 103 for overview of abolition movement including Grimke sisters role.
(7) Franklin Steiner, Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents, chapter on Lincoln on web at http://www.deism.org/lincoln.htm
(8) Henry Ketcham, The Life of Abraham Lincoln
(9) James Kennedy, "Immortal Abe Lincoln" online post at
http://www.coralridge.org/impact/2004_Feb_Pg8.htm
(10) Franklin Steiner, Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents, chapter on Lincoln on web at http://www.deism.org/lincoln.htm
Lincoln and Other Abolition Era Leaders PAGES 1, 2, (3)
History of American Government
Foundational Documents of the United States
