{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-12:religious-belief-of-abraham-lincoln",
  "slug": "religious-belief-of-abraham-lincoln",
  "title": "The Religious Belief of Abraham Lincoln",
  "subtitle": "Letter to Mr. Seip, New York, May 28, 1896.",
  "excerpt": "Ingersoll's considered opinion, with the evidence, that Abraham Lincoln was not a Christian in any orthodox sense — a letter written in reply to a defender of the contrary view.",
  "year": 1896,
  "volume": 12,
  "category": "Essay",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/religious-belief-of-abraham-lincoln/",
  "wordCount": 2747,
  "body": "New York, May 28, 1896.\n\nMY DEAR MR. SEIP: I have carefully read your article on the religious\nbelief of Abraham Lincoln, and in accordance with your request I will\nnot only give you my opinion of the evidence upon which you rely, as set\nout in your article, but my belief as to the religious opinions of Mr.\nLincoln, and the facts on which my belief rests.\n\nYou speak of a controversy between myself and General Collis upon this\nsubject. A few years ago I delivered a lecture on Mr. Lincoln, in this\ncity, and in that lecture said that Lincoln, so far as his religious\nopinions were concerned, substantially agreed with Franklin,\nJefferson, Paine and Voltaire. Thereupon General Collis wrote me a note\ncontradicting what I had said and asserting that \"Lincoln invoked the\npower of Almighty God, not the Deist God, but the God whom he worshiped\nunder the forms of the Christian church of which he was a member.\" To\nthis I replied saying that Voltaire and Paine both believed in God, and\nthat Lincoln was never a member of any Christian church.\n\nGeneral Collis wrote another letter to which, I think, I made no reply,\nfor the reason that the General had demonstrated that he knew nothing\nwhatever on the subject. It was evident that he had never read the life\nof Lincoln, because if he had, he would not have said that he was a\nmember of a church. It was also evident that he knew nothing about the\nreligious opinions of Franklin, Voltaire or Paine, or he would have\nknown that they were believers in the existence of a Supreme Being. It\ndid not seem to me that his letter was worthy of a reply.\n\nNow as to your article: I find in what you have written very little that\nis new. I do not remember ever to have seen anything about the statement\nof the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Gurley in regard to Lincoln's letters.\nThe daughter, however, does not pretend to know the contents of the\nletters and says that they were destroyed by fire; consequently these\nletters, so far as this question is concerned, are of no possible\nimportance. The only thing in your article tending to show that Lincoln\nwas a Christian is the following: \"I think I can say with sincerity that\nI hope I am a Christian. I had lived until my Willie died without\nfully realizing these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me\nmy weakness as I had never felt it before, and I think I can safely say\nthat I know something of a change of heart, and I will further add that\nit has been my intention for some time, at a suitable opportunity, to\nmake a public religious profession.\"\n\nNow, if you had given the name of the person to whom this was said, and\nif that person had told you that Lincoln did utter these words, then the\nevidence would have been good; but you are forced to say that this was\nsaid to an eminent Christian lady. You do not give this lady's name. I\ntake it for granted that her name is unknown, and that the name of the\nperson to whom she told the story is also unknown, and that the name\nof the man who gave the story to the world is unknown. This falsehood,\naccording to your own showing, is an orphan, a lonely lie without\nfather or mother. Such testimony cannot be accepted. It is not even good\nhearsay.\n\nIn the next point you make, you also bring forward the remarks claimed\nto have been made by Mr. Lincoln when some colored people of Baltimore\npresented him with a Bible. You say that he said that the Bible was\nGod's best gift to man, and but for the Bible we could not know right\nfrom wrong. It is impossible that Lincoln should have uttered these\nwords. He certainly would not have said to some colored people that the\nbook that instituted human slavery was God's best gift to man; neither\ncould he have said that but for this book we could not know right from\nwrong. If he said these things he was temporarily insane. Mr. Lincoln\nwas familiar with the lives of Socrates, Epictetus, Epicurus, Zeno,\nConfucius, Zoroaster and Buddha, not one of whom ever heard of the\nBible. Certainly these men knew right from wrong. In my judgment they\nwould compare favorably with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and the Jews\nthat crucified Christ. These pretended remarks must be thrown away; they\ncould have been uttered only by an ignorant and thoughtless zealot, not\nby a sensible, thoughtful man. Neither can we rely on any new evidence\ngiven by the Rev. Mr. Gurley. If Mr. Gurley at any time claimed that\nLincoln was a Christian, such claim was born of an afterthought. Mr.\nGurley preached a funeral sermon over the body of Lincoln at the White\nHouse, and in that sermon he did not claim that Mr. Lincoln was in any\nsense a Christian. He said nothing about Christ. So, the testimony of\nthe Rev. Mr. Sunderland amounts to nothing. Lincoln did not tell him\nthat he was a Christian or that he believed in Christ. Not one of the\nministers that claim that Lincoln was a Christian, not one, testifies\nthat Lincoln so said in his hearing. So, the lives that have been\nwritten of Lincoln by Holland and Arnold are of no possible authority.\nHolland knew nothing about Lincoln; he relied on gossip, and was\nexceedingly anxious to make Lincoln a Christian so that his Life would\nsell. As a matter of fact, Mr. Arnold knew little of Lincoln, and knew\nno more of his religious opinions than he seems to have known about the\nopinions of Washington.\n\nI find also in your article a claim that Lincoln said to somebody that\nunder certain conditions, that is to say, if a church had the Golden\nRule for its creed, he would join that church; but you do not give the\nname of the friend to whom Lincoln made this declaration. Still, if\nhe made it, it does not tend to show that he was a Christian. A church\nfounded on the Golden Rule, \"Do unto others as you would that others\nshould do unto you,\" would not in any sense be a Christian church.\nIt would be an ethical society. The testimony of Mr. Bateman has been\nchanged by himself, he having admitted that it was colored, that he\nwas not properly reported; so the night-walking scene given by James\nE. Murdoch, does not even tend to show that Lincoln was a Christian.\nAccording to Mr. Murdoch he was praying to the God of Solomon and he\nnever mentioned the name of Christ. I think, however, Mr. Murdoch's\nstory is too theatrical, and my own opinion is that it was a waking\ndream. I think Lincoln was a man of too much sense, too much tact, to\nhave said anything to God about Solomon. Lincoln knew that what God did\nfor Solomon ended in failure, and if he wanted God to do something for\nhim (Lincoln) he would not have called attention to the other case. So\nBishop Simpson, in his oration or funeral sermon, said nothing about\nLincoln's having been a Christian.\n\nNow, what is the testimony that you present that Lincoln was a\nChristian?\n\nFirst, Several of your witnesses say that he believed in God.\n\nSecond, Some say that he believed in the efficacy of prayer.\n\nThird, Some say that he was a believer in Providence.\n\nFourth, An unknown person says that he said to another unknown person\nthat he was a Christian.\n\nFifth, You also claim that he said the Bible was the best gift of God to\nman, and that without it we could not have known right from wrong.\n\nThe anonymous testimony has to be thrown away, so nothing is left except\nthe remarks claimed to have been made when the Bible was presented\nby the colored people, and these remarks destroy themselves. It\nis absolutely impossible that Lincoln could have uttered the words\nattributed to him on that occasion. I know of no one who heard the\nwords, I know of no witness who says he heard them or that he knows\nanybody who did. These remarks were not even heard by an \"eminent\nChristian lady,\" and we are driven to say that if Lincoln was a\nChristian he took great pains to keep it a secret.\n\nI believe that I am familiar with the material facts bearing upon the\nreligious belief of Mr. Lincoln, and that I know what he thought of\northodox Christianity. I was somewhat acquainted with him and well\nacquainted with many of his associates and friends, and I am familiar\nwith Mr. Lincoln's public utterances. Orthodox Christians have the habit\nof claiming all great men, all men who have held important positions,\nmen of reputation, men of wealth. As soon as the funeral is over\nclergymen begin to relate imaginary conversations with the deceased, and\nin a very little while the great man is changed to a Christian—possibly\nto a saint.\n\nAll this happened in Mr. Lincoln's case. Many pious falsehoods were\ntold, conversations were manufactured, and suddenly the church claimed\nthat the great President was an orthodox Christian. The truth is that\nLincoln in his religious views agreed with Franklin, Jefferson, and\nVoltaire. He did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible or the\ndivinity of Christ or the scheme of salvation, and he utterly repudiated\nthe dogma of eternal pain.\n\nIn making up my mind as to what Mr. Lincoln really believed, I do not\ntake into consideration the evidence of unnamed persons or the contents\nof anonymous letters; I take the testimony of those who knew and loved\nhim, of those to whom he opened his heart and to whom he spoke in the\nfreedom of perfect confidence.\n\nMr. Herndon was his friend and partner for many years. I knew Mr.\nHerndon well. I know that Lincoln never had a better, warmer, truer\nfriend. Herndon was an honest, thoughtful, able, studious man, respected\nby all who knew him. He was as natural and sincere as Lincoln himself.\nOn several occasions Mr. Herndon told me what Lincoln believed and what\nhe rejected in the realm of religion. He told me again and again\nthat Mr. Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible, the\ndivinity of Christ, or in the existence of a personal God. There was no\npossible reason for Mr. Herndon to make a mistake or to color the facts.\n\nJustice David Davis was a life-long friend and associate of Mr. Lincoln,\nand Judge Davis knew Lincoln's religious opinions and knew Lincoln as\nwell as anybody did. Judge Davis told me that Lincoln was a Freethinker,\nthat he denied the inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of Christ,\nand all miracles. Davis also told me that he had talked with Lincoln on\nthese subjects hundreds of times.\n\nI was well acquainted with Col. Ward H. Lamon and had many conversations\nwith him about Mr. Lincoln's religious belief, before and after he wrote\nhis life of Lincoln. He told me that he had told the exact truth in his\nlife of Lincoln, that Lincoln never did believe in the Bible, or in the\ndivinity of Christ, or in the dogma of eternal pain; that Lincoln was a\nFreethinker.\n\nFor many years I was well acquainted with the Hon. Jesse W. Fell, one\nof Lincoln's warmest friends. Mr. Fell often came to my house and we had\nmany talks about the religious belief of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Fell told me\nthat Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and\nthat he denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. Mr. Fell was very liberal\nin his own ideas, a great admirer of Theodore Parker and a perfectly\nsincere and honorable man.\n\nFor several years I was well acquainted with William G. Green, who was\na clerk with Lincoln at New Salem in the early days, and who admired and\nloved Lincoln with all his heart. Green told me that Lincoln was always\nan Infidel, and that he had heard him argue against the Bible hundreds\nof times. Mr. Green knew Lincoln, and knew him well, up to the time of\nLincoln's death.\n\nThe Hon. James Tuttle of Illinois was a great friend of Lincoln, and\nhe is, if living, a friend of mine, and I am a friend of his. He knew\nLincoln well for many years, and he told me again and again that Lincoln\nwas an Infidel. Mr. Tuttle is a Freethinker himself and has always\nenjoyed the respect of his neighbors. A man with purer motives does not\nlive.\n\nSo I place great reliance on the testimony of Col. John G. Nicolay. Six\nweeks after Mr. Lincoln's death Colonel Nicolay said that he did not in\nany way change his religious ideas, opinions or belief from the time he\nleft Springfield until the day of his death.\n\nIn addition to all said by the persons I have mentioned, Mrs. Lincoln\nsaid that her husband was not a Christian. There are many other\nwitnesses upon this question whose testimony can be found in a book\nentitled \"Abraham Lincoln, was he a Christian?\" written by John E.\nRemsburg, and published in 1893. In that book will be found all\nthe evidence on both sides. Mr. Remsburg states the case with great\nclearness and demonstrates that Lincoln was not a Christian.\n\nNow, what is a Christian?\n\nFirst. He is a believer in the existence of God, the Creator and\nGovernor of the Universe.\n\nSecond. He believes in the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments.\n\nThird. He believes in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ; that the\nHoly Ghost was his father.\n\nFourth. He believes that this Christ was offered as a sacrifice for the\nsins of men, that he was crucified, dead and buried, that he arose from\nthe dead and that he ascended into heaven.\n\nFifth. He believes in the \"fall of man,\" in the scheme of redemption\nthrough the atonement.\n\nSixth. He believes in salvation by faith, that the few are to be\neternally happy, and that the many are to be eternally damned.\n\nSeventh. He believes in the Trinity, in God the Father, God the Son and\nGod the Holy Ghost.\n\nNow, is there the slightest evidence to show that Lincoln believed in\nthe inspiration of the Old and New Testaments?\n\nHas anybody said that he was heard to say that he so believed?\n\nDoes anybody testify that Lincoln believed in the miraculous birth of\nJesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost was the father or that Christ was or\nis God?\n\nHas anybody testified that Lincoln believed that Christ was raised from\nthe dead?\n\nDid anyone ever hear him say that he believed in the ascension of\nJesus Christ? Did anyone ever hear him assert that he believed in the\nforgiveness of sins, or in salvation by faith, or that belief was a\nvirtue and investigation a crime?\n\nWhere, then, is the evidence that he was a Christian?\n\nThere is another reason for thinking that Lincoln never became a\nChristian.\n\nAll will admit that he was an honest man, that he discharged all\nobligations perceived, and did what he believed to be his duty. If\nhe had become a Christian it was his duty publicly to say so. He was\nPresident; he had the ear of the nation; every citizen, had he spoken,\nwould have listened. It was his duty to make a clear, explicit statement\nof his conversion, and it was his duty to join some orthodox church, and\nhe should have given his reasons. He should have endeavored to reach\nthe heart and brain of the Republic. It was unmanly for him to keep his\n\"second birth\" a secret and sneak into heaven leaving his old friends to\ntravel the road to hell.\n\nGreat pains have been taken to show that Mr. Lincoln believed in,\nand worshiped the one true God. This by many is held to have been his\ngreatest virtue, the foundation of his character, and yet, the God he\nworshiped, the God to whom he prayed, allowed him to be assassinated.\n\nIs it possible that God will not protect his friends?\n"
}