So I've read that he was a universalist and that he actually wrote about it, but I suck a research and can't find anything he said or wrote on the subject. He was my favorite president-maybe historical person- before I found out he was a universalist. Does anyone know of any books or websites that include his thoughts on the subject?
"It must be everybody or nobody." â€"Abraham Lincoln, when questioned who would ultimately be in Heaven.
This is one of Abe's quotes I found on TM quotes. I will quote more later, as I find them.
I can't believe I lost the link with the info on it... well there is this from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_religion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_religion))
As Carl Sandburg recounts in Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years, Lincoln attended one of Cartwright's revival meetings. At the conclusion of the service, the fiery pulpiteer called for all who intended to go to heaven to please rise. Naturally, the response was heartening. Then he called for all those who wished to go to hell to stand. Not many takers. Lincoln had responded to neither option. Cartwright closed in. "Mr. Lincoln, you have not expressed an interest in going to either heaven or hell. May I enquire as to where you do plan to go?" Lincoln replied: "I did not come here with the idea of being singled out, but since you ask, I will reply with equal candor. I intend to go to Congress."
:grin: Love it.
He is not listed here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unitarians%2C_Universalists%2C_and_Unitarian_Universalists#L (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unitarians%2C_Universalists%2C_and_Unitarian_Universalists#L)
But then, neither is George Macdonald. :mshock:
The George MacDonald (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_MacDonald) article at Wikipedia is in the Christian universalists category (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Christian_universalists). Only people who can be clearly demonstrated to be or have been believers in Universal Reconciliation should be put there. I have yet to see conclusive evidence that Lincoln was a universalist. If anyone has a good, sourced quote from the 16th POTUS about salvation, I'd love to see it.
I've read that Lincoln wasn't Christian at all.
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."
- Abraham Lincoln, American president (1809-1865).
My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures have become clearer and stronger with advancing years, and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them." Lincoln in a letter to Judge J.S. Wakefield, after the death of Willie Lincoln
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."
"It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to Infidelity." Manford's Magazine, quoted from The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents by Franklin Steiner, p. 144.
If anyone is going to cite Joshua Speed who implied that Lincoln converted later in life, Lincoln's wife remained of the opinion that he did not change his views.
One can still be a Christian without accepting Biblical inerrancy and the penal-substition theory of the atonement. I'm not a Lincoln expert, but I tend to think that he was a Christian, but he rejected certain common theological beliefs, such as the two mentioned above.
He called the bible "this Great Book" and said "it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it." (This was on 7 Sept. 1864 after a group of freedmen from Baltimore presented him with a "very elegant copy of the great Book of God.")
Well, my research has shown that his religious beliefs changed over time. (as is the case with most people) Here is a response I got from a scholar on the subject of Lincoln's religion:
"For most of his adult life Lincoln seemed to be a deist, believing that God created the universe and then stepped aside and made no intervention in its affairs. Lincoln was also a fatalist, believing that events were pre-ordained by God in the act of creation (which set in motion the first events, which caused subsequent events in an unbroken sequence to the present day), and those inevitable events could not be directed by humans (a paradoxical stance given Lincoln's activism in human affairs).
Some credible Lincoln associates report that during the White House years he believed he saw evidence of divine intervention in the world, and that he became a Christian in his heart though he never joined a church in those years.
In a July 31, 1846, statement Lincoln responded to charges of infidelity. That item is in the COLLECTED WORKS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (available in book form and online). His early skepticism about religion is covered in my book LINCOLN AND HIS WORLD: THE EARLY YEARS, BIRTH TO ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE. Reliable accounts of his religious beliefs throughout his entire lifetime are in ABRAHAM LINCOLN: FROM SKEPTIC TO PROPHET by Wayne C. Temple and THE ALMOST CHOSEN PEOPLE: A STUDY OF THE RELIGION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (also called THE RELIGION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN and LINCOLN'S RELIGION) by William J. Wolf.
Richard Lawrence Miller ... Kansas City - MO... 2007/09/08"
Based on the Wiki page I posted earlier, it sounds like there were several claims made about his allegiances to various denominations after his death and they all sound suspicious. But I'm almost certain that the article I read that posited his universalism was somewhere on Tentmaker. It seems to make sense to me, since he was living in the years of the height of the movement. And considering his obvious unorthodox proclivities and personality, he seems like an ideal candidate for such universalistic beliefs.
Ah! Here we go:
http://www.tentmaker.org/biographies/lincoln.htm
I did some research on Abraham Lincoln a few weeks back and from what I remember, he was very guarded about his religious beliefs. He was turned off by organized religion although his friends and colleagues called him a deeply religious man. One interesting note was that he rarely if ever mentioned Christ when talking about his beliefs and God.
It is thought however that he was a universalists by many that knew him well.
There's much out there in googleland on the subject.
Here is a fascinating article about his "fatalism".
http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/18.1/guelzo.html
Quote from: Jacob1207 on September 14, 2007, 08:13:23 PM
One can still be a Christian without accepting Biblical inerrancy and the penal-substition theory of the atonement. I'm not a Lincoln expert, but I tend to think that he was a Christian, but he rejected certain common theological beliefs, such as the two mentioned above.
He called the bible "this Great Book" and said "it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it." (This was on 7 Sept. 1864 after a group of freedmen from Baltimore presented him with a "very elegant copy of the great Book of God.")
I'm not a Lincoln expert either, but what I have read inclines me to see his as a deist - like many of the previous political leaders - and, though he saw God as creator and the value of religion on imparting moral values, he had little time for organized religion and took the view that organized religion should be kept separate from the process of government. I can't say what his view were on Jesus.