As a young man, Lincoln was a religious skeptic. He was deeply familiar with the Bible, quoting and praising it. He was private about his position on organized religion and respected the beliefs of others. He never made a clear profession of Christian beliefs. Through his entire public career, Lincoln had a proneness for quoting Scripture. His three most famous speeches – the House Divided Speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural—each contain direct allusions to Providence and quotes from Scripture. In the 1840s, Lincoln subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessity, a belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power.
Religious and philosophical beliefs
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln | Religious and philosophical beliefs
He was a religious skeptic. He was a religious skeptic. He was deeply familiar with the Bible, quoting and praising it. In the 1850s, Lincoln asserted his belief in "providence" in a general way, and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals
what do dc stand for in washington dc
user
District of Columbia.
assistant
where is it located ?
user
In the United States of America.
assistant
name some landmarks located here ?
user
The Lincoln Memorial, the United States Capitol, the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Pier, to name a few.
assistant
how is the crime rate here ?
user
A 2010 study found that 5% percent of city blocks accounted for more than 25% of the district's total crimes.
assistant
name some sister cities of this city ?
user
Paris and Rome.
assistant
name some public transportation found in this city ?
user
Roadways, metro and airports, to name a few.
assistant
when was the fist memorial mentioned above constructed ?
user
1868.
assistant
why was it constructed ?
user
It was public memorial to United States President Abraham Lincoln.
assistant
what educational qualification he held ?
user
He was mostly self-educated, except for some schooling from itinerant teachers of less than 12 months aggregate.
assistant
what were his religious beliefs?
user
With the death of his son Edward in 1850 he more frequently expressed a dependence on God. He never joined a church, although he frequently attended First Presbyterian Church with his wife beginning in 1852. In the 1850s, Lincoln asserted his belief in "providence" in a general way, and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals; he regarded the republicanism of the Founding Fathers with an almost religious reverence. The death of son Willie in February 1862 may have caused him to look toward religion for solace. After Willie's death, he questioned the divine necessity of the war's severity.
Abraham Lincoln | Religious and philosophical beliefs
In a letter held by The Raab Collection dated February 4, 1866, William Herndon wrote that: Mr. Lincoln's religion is too well known to me to allow of even a shadow of a doubt; he is or was a Theist & a Rationalist, denying all extraordinary - supernatural inspiration or revelation. At one time in his life, he was an elevated Pantheist, doubting the immortality of the soul as the Christian world understands that term. He believed that the soul lost its identity and was immortal as a force. Subsequent to this he rose to the belief of a God, and this is all the change he ever underwent.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1866
However, close friends who had known Lincoln for years, such as Ward Hill Lamon and William Herndon, rejected the idea that he was a believing Christian. During his 1846 run for the House of Representatives, in order to dispel accusations concerning his religious beliefs, Lincoln issued a handbill stating that he had "never denied the truth of the Scriptures". He seemed to believe in an all-powerful God, who shaped events and, by 1865, was expressing those beliefs in major speeches.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Introduction
As a young man, Lincoln was a religious skeptic. He was deeply familiar with the Bible, quoting and praising it. He was private about his position on organized religion and respected the beliefs of others. He never made a clear profession of Christian beliefs. Through his entire public career, Lincoln had a proneness for quoting Scripture. His three most famous speeches – the House Divided Speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural—each contain direct allusions to Providence and quotes from Scripture. In the 1840s, Lincoln subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessity, a belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power.
Abraham Lincoln | Religious and philosophical beliefs
The religious views of Abraham Lincoln are a matter of interest among scholars and the public. Lincoln grew up in a highly religious Baptist family. He never joined any Church, and was a skeptic as a young man and sometimes ridiculed revivalists. He frequently referred to God and had a deep knowledge of the Bible, often quoting it. Lincoln attended Protestant church services with his wife and children, and after two of them died he became more intensely concerned with religion. Some argue that Lincoln was neither a Christian believer nor a secular freethinker. Although Lincoln never made an unambiguous public profession of Christian belief, several people who knew him personally, such as Chaplain of the Senate Phineas Gurley and Mary Todd Lincoln, claimed that he believed in Christ in the religious sense.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Introduction
I speak knowing what I say. He was a noble man- a good great man for all this. My own ideas of God- his attributes - man, his destiny, & the relations of the two, are tinged with Mr. Lincoln's religion. I cannot, for the poor life of me, see why men dodge the sacred truth of things. In my poor lectures I stick to the truth and bide my time. I love Mr. Lincoln dearly, almost worship him, but that can't blind me. He's the purest politician I ever saw, and the justest man. I am scribbling- that's the word- away on a life of Mr.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1866
He wrote at this time that God "could have 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."
Abraham Lincoln | Religious and philosophical beliefs
Lincoln's parents were "Hard Shell" Baptists, joining the Little Pigeon Baptist Church near Lincoln City, Indiana, in 1823 when Abraham was 14 years old. In 1831, Lincoln moved to New Salem, which had no churches. However, historian Mark Noll states that "Lincoln never joined a church nor ever made a clear profession of standard Christian belief." Noll quotes Lincoln's friend Jesse Fell: Noll argues Lincoln was turned against organized Christianity by his experiences as a young man witnessing how excessive emotion and bitter sectarian quarrels marked yearly camp meetings and the ministry of traveling preachers. As a young man, Lincoln enjoyed reading the works of deists such as Thomas Paine.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Early years
He drafted a pamphlet incorporating such ideas but did not publish it. After charges of hostility to Christianity almost cost him a congressional bid, he kept his unorthodox beliefs private. The one aspect of his parents' Calvinist religion that Lincoln apparently embraced wholeheartedly throughout his life was the "doctrine of necessity", also known as predestination, determinism, or fatalism. It was almost always through these lenses that Lincoln assessed the meaning of the Civil War.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Early years
In 1862 and 1863, during the most difficult days of the Civil War and his presidency, Lincoln's utterances were sometimes marked with spiritual overtones.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Later years
Surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay."
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1864
Lincoln never joined a religious congregation; however, his father, mother, sister and stepmother were all Baptists. Abraham's parents, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, belonged to Little Mount Baptist Church, a Baptist congregation in Kentucky that had split from a larger church in 1808 because its members refused to support slavery. Through their membership in this anti-slavery church, Thomas and Nancy exposed Abraham and Sarah to anti-slavery sentiment at a very young age. After settling in Indiana, Lincoln's parents continued their Baptist church membership, joining the Big Pigeon Baptist Church in 1823. When the Lincoln family left Indiana for Illinois in March 1830, Thomas and his second wife, Sally, were members in good standing at the Little Pigeon Creek Baptist Church.
Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln | Early religious beliefs
Sally Lincoln recalled in September 1865 that her stepson Abraham "had no particular religion" and did not talk about it much. She also remembered that he often read the Bible and occasionally attended church services. Matilda Johnston Hall Moore, Lincoln's stepsister, explained in an 1865 interview how Lincoln would read the Bible to his siblings and join them in singing hymns after his parents had gone to church. Other family members and friends who knew Lincoln during his a youth in Indiana recalled that he would often get up on a stump, gather children, friends, and coworkers around him, and repeat a sermon he had heard the previous week to the amusement of the locals, especially the children.
Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln | Early religious beliefs
When the clouds lifted above the carnage of Gettysburg, he gave his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. The pastor of a church in Freeport, Illinois, in November 1864, said that a man from Illinois visited Lincoln in the White House and, after conducting other business, asked the president if he loved Jesus. The pastor said that Lincoln buried his face in his handkerchief as tears came to his eyes and then answered: When I left home to take this chair of state, I requested my countrymen to pray for me. I was not then a Christian. When my son died, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1865
But, when I went to Gettysburg and looked upon the graves of our dead heroes who had fallen in defense of their country, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, "I do love Jesus".
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1865
Lincoln- gathering known- authentic & true facts of him. Excuse the liberties I have taken with you- hope you won't have a fight with Johnson. Is he turning out a fool - a Tyler? He must go with God if he wants to be a living and vital power.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1866
He was too good for this earth. The good Lord has called him home. I know that he is much better off in Heaven." Spiritualism, popularly in vogue during this era, was tried by Lincoln's wife. She used the services of mediums and spiritualists to try to contact their dead son. Lincoln allegedly attended at least one seance at the White House at this time with his wife.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1862: Bereavement and Emancipation
Guelzo argues that Lincoln's boyhood inculcation of Calvinism was the dominant thread running through his adult life. He characterizes Lincoln's worldview as a kind of "Calvinized Deism". A Bible that belonged to President Abraham Lincoln resurfaced 150 years after his death. The Bible was gifted to President Lincoln by the Citizens Volunteer Hospital of Philadelphia on June 16, 1864. It was then passed on to his neighbor Rev. Noyes W. Miner by the first lady Mary Lincoln on October 15, 1872. Miner's family has passed the keepsake down from generation to generation and recently donated the Bible for the public to see.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Modern views
In "Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power" (2006), Richard Carwardine of Oxford University highlights Lincoln's considerable ability to rally evangelical Northern Protestants to the flag by nourishing the millennial belief that they were God's chosen people. Historian Allen C. Guelzo notes: "This was no mean feat, coming from a man who had been suspected of agnosticism or atheism for most of his life. Yet by the end, while still a religious skeptic, Lincoln, too, seemed to equate the preservation of the Union and the freeing of the slaves with some higher, mystical purpose." Guelzo, director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, published "Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President" in 1999.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Modern views
Rev. James Armstrong Reed, in preparing his 1873 lectures on the religion of Lincoln, asked a number of people if there was any evidence of Lincoln being an "infidel" in his later life. The reply from Phineas Gurley, pastor of the same New York Avenue Presbyterian Church while Lincoln was an attender, to Reed's question was:
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | After his assassination
On the day Lincoln was assassinated, he reportedly told his wife at Ford's Theatre that he wanted to visit the Holy Land and that "there was no place he so much desired to see as Jerusalem." Following Lincoln's assassination a memory book, "The Lincoln Memorial Album—Immortelles", in which people could write their thoughts includes some comments on Lincoln's religion. One entry, written by a well-known Presbyterian minister, the Rev. John H. Barrows, claimed that Lincoln had become a Christian in 1863 but provided no evidence. He said: In the anxious uncertainties of the great war, he gradually rose to the heights where Jehovah became to him the sublimest of realities, the ruler of nations...When darkness gathered over the brave armies fighting for the nation's life, this strong man in the early morning knelt and wrestled in prayer with Him who holds the fate of empires.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1865
Lincoln in reporting some insane remarks supposed to have been made by him, in 1864, on the presentation of a Bible to him by the colored people of Baltimore. No sane man ever uttered such folly, and no sane man will ever believe it." In September 1864, Lincoln, placing the Civil War squarely within a divine province, wrote in a letter to a member of the Society of Friends, "The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail accurately to perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise...we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He ordains.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1864
On Thursday, February 20, 1862, at 5:00 p.m., Lincoln's eleven-year-old son, William Wallace Lincoln ("Willie"), died at the White House. Historians suggest that this may have been the most difficult personal crisis in Lincoln's life. After the funeral, he attempted a return to his routine but was unable. One week after the funeral, he isolated himself in his office and wept all day. Several people reported that Lincoln told them that his feelings about religion changed at this time. Willie is reported to have often remarked that he wanted to become a minister. When his son died, Lincoln reportedly said, "May God live in all.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1862: Bereavement and Emancipation
Following Lincoln's assassination, there were competing biographies, some claiming Lincoln had been a Christian and others that he had been a non-believer. In 1872, Colonel Ward Hill Lamon published his "Life of Abraham Lincoln; From his Birth to his Inauguration as President" using interviews and correspondences collected by William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner in Springfield. Lamon had also been a law partner with Lincoln in Illinois, from 1852 until 1857, and later was Lincoln's personal bodyguard in Washington. Lamon's biography stated that Lincoln did not himself believe in the divinity of Jesus, and that several who knew him as a young man described him as an "infidel".
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | After his assassination
Carman supported women's education. In 1881 he was instrumental in the opening of the Alma College for women in St. Thomas. Carman was orthodox, and tried to maintain the traditional centrist position of the Methodist church. He was opposed both to ultra-conservatism and to liberal theology, both of which he considered to be divisive. He rejected the view that religion should focus on humanity rather than God, or that biblical teaching could be used selectively. He felt these attitudes were incompatible with the basic Methodist belief in the need for a continued and disciplined struggle against personal sin, and would tend to weaken Christian beliefs.
Albert Carman | Beliefs
Adams was an active member of First Parish Church in Quincy, which became Unitarian in doctrine by 1753. Her theological views evolved over the course of her life. In a letter to her son near the end of her life, dated May 5, 1816, she wrote of her religious beliefs: She also asked Louisa Adams in a letter dated January 3, 1818, "When will Mankind be convinced that true Religion is from the Heart, between Man and his creator, and not the imposition of Man or creeds and tests?"
Abigail Adams | Religious beliefs
Mary Todd Lincoln strongly disagreed with the portrayal of her husband. She may have enlisted people such as Rev. Noyes W. Miner to testify to Lincoln's faith. Miner lived across the street from the Lincolns in Springfield, Illinois, and Lincoln was known to visit with Miner, a Baptist minister. Miner was also one of the ministers who officiated at the burial of Abraham Lincoln. Miner wrote, Lincoln “believed not only in the overwhelming Providence of God, but in the divinity of the Sacred Scriptures.” Miner also related the story that on the night he was assassinated, Lincoln supposedly told Mary that he desired to visit the Holy Land.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | After his assassination
Most Jews believe that the God of Abraham is the one true God. The Jews believe the God of Abraham entered into a covenant with the ancient Israelites, marking them as his Chosen People, giving them a mission to spread the concept of monotheism. Jews do not consider their chosenness to be a mark of superiority to other nations, but a responsibility to be an example of behavior for other nations to emulate.
Religious exclusivism | Judaism
Raised in a Calvinist household in the tee-totaling State of Maine, Stanley did not drink alcoholic beverages. Nor did he smoke cigars, unlike many men of his day, having survived tuberculosis. He was discreet in his religious and political affiliations. Stanley wrote a letter to the "Newton Graphic" in 1902 criticizing Christian Science and expressing some negative opinions about orthodox interpretations of scripture. If Stanley held religious beliefs at all, it is likely that he was a modernist christian who shared the attitudes espoused by biblical scholar Charles Augustus Briggs in his controversial address to the Union Theological Seminary in 1876.
Freelan Oscar Stanley | Personal characteristics
Harlan was a fundamentalist Christian, and his Christian beliefs played a large role in his life, as a Supreme Court justice, and in general. During his tenure as a justice, he was an elder at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., and there he taught a Sunday school class of middle-aged men from 1896 until his death in 1911.
John Marshall Harlan | Religious beliefs
Abrahamic religions are monotheistic religions which believe they descend from Abraham.
Religion | Abrahamic
Nay, they sometimes cite passages which most certainly are not in our present gospels. Kneeland disdained societal mores, preferring naturalistic and personal quests for truth. He believed in equal treatment for all people, both under the law as well as by society. Kneeland applied this even when religious scripture would seem to indicate different roles. This included support of such controversial ideas as divorce rights for women, married women keeping their own names and property, and refusal to condemn miscegenation (now known as interracial marriage). Kneeland was also in favor of birth control. He allowed fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison the use of his lecture hall when the churches in Boston had turned him away.
Abner Kneeland | Religious and social views
While Abraham Lincoln never officially joined a church, there has been some research indicating that he may have had Quaker leanings. During his time in office, he had numerous meetings with Quakers and had investigated a supposed Quaker ancestry. The only other president with any association with a definitely non-Trinitarian body is Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose parents moved from the River Brethren to the antecedents of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Eisenhower himself was baptized in the Presbyterian church shortly after assuming the presidency, the only president thus far to undergo such a rite while in office; and his attendance at West Point was in sharp opposition to the tenets of the groups to which his parents belonged.
Religious affiliations of presidents of the United States | Unitarianism and Nontrinitarianism
Dr. Barrows claimed that Abraham Lincoln had become a Christian without providing any evidence. In the "Lincoln Memorial Album", following Lincoln's assassination, Dr. Barrows wrote a few comments about Lincoln's religion:
John Henry Barrows | Abraham Lincoln had become a Christian claim
He also argued that the belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies.
Religion | Classical
James G. Randall emphasizes his tolerance and moderation "in his preference for orderly progress, his distrust of dangerous agitation, and his reluctance toward ill digested schemes of reform". Randall concludes that, "he was conservative in his complete avoidance of that type of so-called 'radicalism' which involved abuse of the South, hatred for the slaveholder, thirst for vengeance, partisan plotting, and ungenerous demands that Southern institutions be transformed overnight by outsiders."
Abraham Lincoln | Republican values
This concluded Hardy's links with the Baptists. The irony and struggles of life, coupled with his naturally curious mind, led him to question the traditional Christian view of God: Scholars have debated Hardy's religious leanings for years, often unable to reach a consensus. Once, when asked in correspondence by a clergyman, Dr. A.B. Grosart, about the question of reconciling the horrors of human and animal life with "the absolute goodness and non-limitation of God", Hardy replied, Hardy frequently conceived of, and wrote about, supernatural forces, particularly those that control the universe through indifference or caprice, a force he called The Immanent Will.
Thomas Hardy | Religious beliefs
"When it comes to Monroe's thoughts on religion," historian Bliss Isely notes, "less is known than that of any other President." No letters survive in which he discussed his religious beliefs. Nor did his friends, family or associates comment on his beliefs. Letters that do survive, such as ones written after the death of his son, contain no discussion of religion. Monroe was raised in a family that belonged to the Church of England when it was the state church in Virginia before the Revolution. As an adult, he attended Episcopal churches. Some historians see "deistic tendencies" in his few references to an impersonal God.
James Monroe | Religious beliefs
Maugham said that he remained agnostic to the questions concerning the existence of God. He considered that the misery and bitterness of the world suggested that God did not exist. He said that "the evidence adduced to prove the truth of one religion is of very much the same sort as that adduced to prove the truth of another." Maugham did not believe in God or an afterlife. He considered notions of future punishment or reward to be outrageous.
Somerset Maugham | Religious views
Hall is listed in the Cambridge Companion to Atheism as having been an atheist. Hall was a pioneer in the school of religious psychology. He was exposed to Christianity by his pious mother as a child. While he attended Williston Seminary School, he joined the college church and instructed adult bible classes. He is quoted as saying, “highest choice of free will is self surrender to the service of God”, as well as “love fixed in the highest being, God”. He moved on to attend Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1867. Interested in comparative religion, he took a position at the city missionary society and attended multiple types if religious services.
G. Stanley Hall | Religious views
One seeks salvation or transcendence not by contemplating the natural world or via philosophical speculation, but by seeking to please God (such as obedience with God's wishes or his law) and see divine revelation as outside of self, nature, and custom.
Abrahamic religions | Common aspects
Einstein used many labels to describe his religious views, including "agnostic", "religious nonbeliever" and a "pantheistic" believer in "Spinoza's God". Einstein believed the problem of God was the "most difficult in the world"—a question that could not be answered "simply with yes or no." He conceded that, "the problem involved is too vast for our limited minds."
Religious and philosophical views of Albert Einstein | Religious beliefs
Thomas Lincoln had religious grounds for disliking slavery and these served as a partial reason for moving from Kentucky to north of the Ohio River where slavery had been prohibited by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. After moving to Coles County, Illinois, Lincoln and his wife became Church of Christ members.
Thomas Lincoln | Religion
Fraser attended Anglican schools, although his parents were Presbyterian. In university he was inclined towards atheism, once writing that "the idea that God exists is a nonsense". However, his beliefs became less definite over time and tended towards agnosticism. During his political career, he occasionally self-described as Christian, such as in a 1975 interview with "The Catholic Weekly". Margaret Simons, the co-author of Fraser's memoirs, thought that he was "not religious, and yet thinks religion is a necessary thing". In a 2010 interview with her, he said: "I would probably like to be less logical and, you know, really able to believe there is a god, whether it is Allah, or the Christian god, or some other – but I think I studied too much philosophy ...
Malcolm Fraser | Religious beliefs
His religious sentiments were by himself stated to be liberal, though orthodox. He had extensively studied the Scriptures, of which the precepts were deeply impressed upon his mind from his earliest years; and he evidenced the faith which he professed; in an unbending course of usefulness and rectitude."
Thomas Young (scientist) | Religious views
Abraham attended Methodist College in Belfast, Northern Ireland, then completed his undergraduate studies at the Queen's University of Belfast, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 in philosophy and psychology. He then attended Asbury Theological Seminary, earning an Master of Divinity degree in 1973, before earning his Doctor of Philosophy degree at Regent's Park College, Oxford University, in 1977. He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Asbury in 2008.
William J. Abraham | Education
The religious views of William Shakespeare are the subject of an ongoing scholarly debate dating back more than 150 years. The general assumption about William Shakespeare's religious affiliation is that he was a conforming member of the established Church of England. However, many scholars have speculated about his personal religious beliefs, based on analysis of the historical record and of his published work, with claims that Shakespeare's family may have had Catholic sympathies and that he himself was a secret Catholic.
Religious views of William Shakespeare | Introduction
Carroll did not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God. However, in his essay "Why I am not an atheist," Carroll said he disliked the term "atheist" because he felt it was being exploited by theists and used in straw-man arguments. He preferred the term "Brights." After Carroll abandoned Catholicism, he said, the only religion he found attractive (though he never followed it) was Buddhism as taught by the Dalai Lama. Carroll always maintained that people have to be more skeptical of religion. Religion, he said, is an area skeptics do not target enough, and so, he said, pure faith was winning the race against critical thinking.
Robert Todd Carroll | Views on religion
I have, indeed, and only too often, failed in the performance of those good works which are the mark of a Catholic Christian, and I have been guilty of many sins: but through the special mercy of God I have never, as far as I know, wavered in my faith... In this faith I recognise a pure gift of God, a supernatural grace; but I have not neglected those human means which confirm belief, and overthrow the doubts which at times arise. I studied attentively the grounds and basis of religion, the works of apologists and assailants, the reasons for and against, and I can say that the result of such study is to clothe religion with such a degree of probability, even for the merely natural reason, that every spirit unperverted by sin and passion, every naturally noble spirit must love and accept it.
Alessandro Volta | Religious beliefs
In 1891, Oldfield attempted to convert Gandhi to the Anglican faith and urged him to read the Bible. However, by the 20th century he had changed his faith. In 1904, he commented that "as a medical man, seeing much of pain and suffering and dying, my experience does not lead me to think that it is the profession of the Christian creed which is by any means the sole method of securing happiness of soul in this world, or which removes the fear of passing on to the next." Oldfield concluded that a "wider conception of God" was needed. Oldfield is listed in "A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists" as a theist with mystic ideas about the soul.
Josiah Oldfield | Religious beliefs
He also argued that the belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies.
Definition of religion | Classical
He found that "Literally-oriented religious Believers did not differ significantly from Mythologically-oriented Believers on measures of intelligence, authoritarianism, or racial prejudice. Religious Believers as a group were found to be significantly less intelligent and more authoritarian than religious Skeptics." He used SAT scores as a measure of intelligence for this study.
Religiosity and education | Evangelical groups
Hobhouse was also an atheist from an early age, despite his father being an archdeacon. He believed that rational tests could be applied to values and that they could be self-consistent and objective. Hobhouse was never religious. He wrote in 1883 that he was "in politics... a firm radical. In religion... an (if possible yet firmer) agnostic". In terms of his political and philosophical views, Hobhouse was Gladstonian; a devoted follower of the philosopher John Stuart Mill; and an admirer of John Morley, Bradlaugh; and Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet. Theose influences him to various feminist, democratic and secularist political stances.
Leonard Hobhouse | Life
On Monday, March 4, 1861, Lincoln delivered his first inaugural address, after the oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Roger Taney. Lincoln's speech addressed the national crisis of the southern secession from the union. Lincoln had hoped to resolve the conflict peacefully without a civil war. During the address, Lincoln stated "Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty."
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | First Inaugural Address
Strong held a form of inclusivism, that is, he believed that some people from non-Christian religions actually believe in the one true God, the God revealed in the Bible. Thus their faith in God to the limits of their knowledge and their rejection of the religion around them constitute "an implicit faith in Christ."
Augustus Hopkins Strong | Theology
Lincoln was mostly self-educated, except for some schooling from itinerant teachers of less than 12 months aggregate. He persisted as an avid reader and retained a lifelong interest in learning. Family, neighbors, and schoolmates recalled that his reading included the King James Bible, Aesop's Fables, John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", and "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin". As a teen, Lincoln took responsibility for chores, and customarily gave his father all earnings from work outside the home until he was 21. Lincoln was tall, strong, and athletic, and became adept at using an ax. He gained a reputation for strength and audacity after winning a wrestling match with the renowned leader of ruffians known as "the Clary's Grove boys".
Abraham Lincoln | Education and move to Illinois
Pritchard held various Dissenting religious views over his lifetime, holding that science and religion were one. Through the Varleys he attended a Sandemanian church, where he became acquainted with Michael Faraday. In the end he joined a Unitarian congregation, because religious freedom and self-improvement were the watchwords of the movement, which still struggled against civil disabilities. Money aside, Pritchard would not have been able to attend an English university as a young man, for example, because the only two, Oxford and Cambridge, restricted entry to members of the Church of England. "No-one exists divorced from immediate and larger social environments.
Andrew Pritchard | Religious ties
His position on war, though, was founded on a legal argument regarding the Constitution as essentially a contract among the states, and all parties must agree to pull out of the contract. Further, it was a national duty to ensure the republic stands in every state. Many soldiers and religious leaders from the north, though, felt the fight for liberty and freedom of slaves was ordained by their moral and religious beliefs. As a Whig activist, Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests, favoring high tariffs, banks, infrastructure improvements, and railroads, in opposition to Jacksonian democrats. William C. Harris found that Lincoln's "reverence for the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the laws under it, and the preservation of the Republic and its institutions strengthened his conservatism".
Abraham Lincoln | Republican values
Holt has been described as an "apathetic agnostic". He was baptised Anglican, attended Methodist schools, and married with Presbyterian forms, but neither he nor his wife had any interest in religion. His lack of religiosity apparently had little impact on his political prospects, and was not generally remarked upon. Alick Downer believed that Holt's thoughts "lay in this world not the next". According to his friend Simon Warrender, he "was an agnostic whose "raison d'être" was dedication to his career". Holt had a reputation as something of a fatalist, and frequently quoted from Andrew Marvell's "carpe diem" poem "To His Coy Mistress".
Harold Holt | Religious beliefs
Emma's religious beliefs were founded on Unitarianism, which emphasizes inner feeling over the authority of religious texts or doctrine. Her views were not simple and unwavering, and were the result of intensive study and questioning. Darwin was open about his scepticism before they became engaged, and she discussed with him the tension between her fears that differences of belief would separate them, and her desire to be close and openly share ideas. Following their marriage, they shared discussions about Christianity for several years. She valued his openness, and his genuine uncertainty regarding the existence and nature of God, which gradually developed into agnosticism.
Emma Darwin | Religious views
In addition to John Calvin, Phelps admired Martin Luther and Bob Jones Sr., and approvingly quoted a statement by Jones that "what this country needs is 50 Jonathan Edwardses turned loose in it." Phelps particularly held to equal ultimacy, believing that "God Almighty makes some willing and he leads others into sin", a view he said is Calvinist. However, many theologians would identify him as a Hyper-Calvinist ("hyper" meaning "beyond" or "above" not "extreme").
Fred Phelps | Religious beliefs
Gaustad was a prolific writer that believed in the separation of church and state education. However, he still thought that both were important, even saying that the Great Awakening not only helped religion, but also helped the thought process in America. He is quoted to have said that "Religion involves both the heart and the mind. Education, likewise, involves both the heart and the mind." He believed that education and religion were wonderful things—just not when one puts them together.
Edwin Gaustad | Beliefs
Reflecting on the successes of the past year, Lincoln said, No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | 1863: Gettysburg
Lincoln grew up in London and attended Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, from where he gained a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. There he studied Modern Languages (German and Russian) from 1963 to 1966, obtaining a BA Honours followed by an MA in 1971. He went on to study theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and received a BD summa cum laude in 1971. He returned to England to do doctoral research at Cambridge under the supervision of Professor C. F. D. Moule and completed a dissertation on the function of the heavenly dimension in Paul's thought, gaining a PhD in 1975.
Andrew T. Lincoln | Early life and education
All Abrahamic religions accept the tradition that God revealed himself to the patriarch Abraham. All are monotheistic, and conceive God to be a transcendent creator and the source of moral law. Their religious texts feature many of the same figures, histories, and places, although they often present them with different roles, perspectives, and meanings. Believers who agree on these similarities and the common Abrahamic origin tend to also be more positive towards other Abrahamic groups. In the three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the individual, God, and the universe are highly separate from each other. The Abrahamic religions believe in a judging, paternal, fully external god to which the individual and nature are subordinate.
Abrahamic religions | Common aspects
Oliver believed that religion was one of the major weaknesses of his nation and civilization. In a 1990 article, he characterized Christianity as "a spiritual syphilis" that "has rotted the minds of our race and induced paralysis of our will to live." Damon T. Berry, in his book "Blood and Faith: Christianity and American White Nationalism" (Syracuse University Press, 2017), devotes an entire chapter to Oliver, concluding that "Oliver hated both conservativism and Christianity...because they equally represented to him an ideological poison that was alien to the best instincts of the white race to defend its existence." (p. 41)
Revilo P. Oliver | Views
According to Al-Biruni his rare impartiality was rooted in his lack of dependence on a particular religion. He created a religion and invited others to that.
Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri | Religious Beliefs
Asked whether he was an atheist or a religious person on a National Public Radio interview in February 2009, Eagleman replied "I call myself a Possibilian: I'm open to...ideas that we don't have any way of testing right now." In a subsequent interview with the "New York Times", Eagleman expanded on the definition: "Our ignorance of the cosmos is too vast to commit to atheism, and yet we know too much to commit to a particular religion. A third position, agnosticism, is often an uninteresting stance in which a person simply questions whether his traditional religious story (say, a man with a beard on a cloud) is true or not true.
Possibilianism | History
In 1858, when responding to a questionnaire sent to former members of Congress, Lincoln described his education as "defective". In 1860, shortly after his nomination for U.S. president, Lincoln apologized for and regretted his limited formal education. Lincoln was self-educated. His formal schooling was intermittent, the aggregate of which may have amounted to less than twelve months. He never attended college, but Lincoln retained a lifelong interest in learning. In a September 1865 interview with William Herndon, Lincoln's stepmother described Abraham as a studious boy who read constantly, listened intently to others and had a deep interest in learning. Lincoln continued reading as a means of self improvement as an adult, studying English grammar in his early twenties and mastering Euclid after he became a member of Congress.
Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln | Education
Before his death, Roddenberry became close friends with philosopher Charles Musès, who said that Roddenberry's views were "a far cry from atheism". Roddenberry explained his position thus: "It's not true that I don't believe in God. I believe in a kind of God. It's just not other people's God. I reject religion. I accept the notion of God." He had an ongoing interest in other people's experiences with religion, and called Catholicism "a very beautiful religion. An art form." However, he said that he dismissed all organized religions, saying that for the most part, they acted like a "substitute brain...
Gene Roddenberry | Religious views
He held to the common literary and juridical principle of harmonization when looking at the differences and apparent discrepancies in details as recounted in parallel accounts. Bennett was convinced that the gospels were not forged documents but rather could be depended on as primary sources.
Edmund H. Bennett | Religious beliefs
The religious views of Thomas Jefferson diverged widely from the traditional Christianity of his era. Throughout his life, Jefferson was intensely interested in theology, religious studies, and morality. Jefferson was most comfortable with Deism, rational religion, Theistic rationalism, and Unitarianism. He was sympathetic to and in general agreement with the "moral" precepts of Christianity. He considered the teachings of Jesus as having "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man," yet he held that the pure teachings of Jesus appeared to have been appropriated by some of Jesus' early followers, resulting in a Bible that contained both "diamonds" of wisdom and the "dung" of ancient political agendas.
Religious views of Thomas Jefferson | Introduction
During his sophomore year at Dartmouth, Kendall's belief in Congregationalist theology began to waver. During a trip to Vermont to see relatives in September 1809, he worshiped at a Christian Church and was amazed to see that their religious services not only involved women but were emotionally charged. While living in Groton in the fall of 1811, he rejected Roman Catholicism and Unitarianism but was strongly attracted to the revivalist preaching of Congregational minister Edward Dodge Griffin. While living in Lexington, he attended some Methodist churches, but found them too loud and bombastic. Kendall later said that he converted to the Baptist faith shortly after establishing himself in Kentucky, although he did not formally join a Baptist congregation until 1865.
Amos Kendall | Religious beliefs
Cartwright avoided joint appearances with Lincoln and initiated a "whispering campaign" that accused Lincoln of being an infidel and a religious skeptic. Lincoln responded by pointing out that the Illinois constitution had no religious qualifications for office. On July 31 he published a handbill that admitted he was not a member of a specific Christian church, but denied that he was an "open scoffer at Christianity" or had ever "denied the truth of the Scriptures." Cartwright's campaign was effective only in counties where Lincoln was not personally known. Lincoln won the election with 56 percent of the vote, topping the numbers of Hardin (53 percent) and Baker (52 percent) in their elections.
Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln | Campaigning for Congress (1846)
The religious affiliations of presidents of the United States can affect their electability, shape their stances on policy matters and their visions of society and also how they want to lead it. Speculation of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and William Howard Taft being atheists was reported during election campaigns, while others, such as Jimmy Carter, used faith as a defining aspect of their campaigns and tenure to hold the office. Almost all of the presidents can be characterized as Christian, at least by upbringing, though some were unaffiliated with any specific religious body. Protestants predominate, with Episcopalians and Presbyterians being the most prevalent.
Religious affiliations of presidents of the United States | Introduction
He argued the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence; he said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men equal in every respect, they believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".
Abraham Lincoln | "Dred Scott v. Sandford"
Lincoln graduated from Haverford College in 1970 with a B.A. in Religion, and then took his Ph.D. in the History of Religions from The University of Chicago in 1976, where he wrote his dissertation, "Priests, Warriors, and Cattle: A Comparative Study of East African and Indo-Iranian Religious Systems" under Mircea Eliade. During this time, he also studied under J.A.B. van Buitenen, Carsten Colpe, and Charles Long.
Bruce Lincoln | Education
Abrahamic religions are monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him. They constitute one of three major divisions in comparative religion, along with Indian religions (Dharmic) and East Asian religions (Taoic). The three major Abrahamic faiths (in chronological order) are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Some strict definitions of what constitutes an Abrahamic religion include only these three faiths. However, there are many other religions incorporating Abrahamic doctrine, theology, genealogy and history into their own belief systems.
List of religious sites | Abrahamic religions
This distant territory was a Democratic stronghold, and acceptance of the post would have disrupted his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice.
Abraham Lincoln | Political views
Though he sometimes dealt with religious topics of history in Egypt and wrote about the history of Christianity in Nubia, not much is known about Young's personal religious views. On George Peacock's account, Young never spoke to him about morals, metaphysics or religion, though according to Young's wife, his attitudes showed that "his Quaker upbringing had strongly influenced his religious practices." Authority sources have described Young in terms of a cultural Christian Quaker. Hudson Gurney informed that before his marriage, Young had to join the Church of England, and was baptized later. After his work on physics received some criticism from Henry Brougham, Young stated: "I have resolved to confine my studies and my pen to medical subjects only.
Thomas Young (scientist) | Religious views
All Abrahamic religions believe that God guides humanity through revelation to prophets, and each religion recognizes that God revealed teachings up to and including those in their own scripture.
Abrahamic religions | Scripture
As a young man, Lincoln became active in the Primitive Baptist church (also known as Predestinarian or Separate Baptists) and eventually became a leader in the denomination. According to several historians, "Thomas Lincoln was "one of the five or six most important men" among the Indiana Separates, and it becomes clear that, for all effective purposes, Abraham Lincoln's life in Indiana was lived in an atmosphere of what William Barton called "a Calvinism that would have out-Calvined Calvin." In Indiana, Lincoln served as a trustee of the Pigeon Creek Baptist Church and helped to build the church meeting house with Abraham.
Thomas Lincoln | Religion
Although Strauss accepted the utility of religious belief, there is some question about his religious views. On one hand he was openly disdainful of atheism and disapproved of contemporary dogmatic disbelief, which he considered intemperate and irrational. On the other hand, like Thomas Aquinas, he felt that revelation must be subject to examination by reason. At the end of "The City and Man", Strauss invites us to "be open to ... the question "quid sit deus" ["What is God?"]" (p. 241), and Edward Feser writes that: Strauss was not himself an orthodox believer, neither was he a convinced atheist. Since whether or not to accept a purported divine revelation is itself one of the "permanent" questions, orthodoxy must always remain an option equally as defensible as unbelief.
Leo Strauss | Religious belief
But here it stops, not because it claims to have compassed all truth; but because it disclaims to act as an umpire between hostile religious opinions." Mann stated that this position resulted in a near-universal use of the Bible in the schools of Massachusetts and that this served as an argument against the assertion by some that Christianity was excluded from his schools, or that they were anti-Christian. A devotee of phrenology, Mann believed education could eliminate or reduce human failings and compensate for any biological flaws.
Horace Mann | Secular nature
After years of study and mature thought on theological questions, she took broader and more liberal views concerning the Bible and its teachings, and was in accord with the advanced religious thought of her day. Having been reared amid slavery, seeing its downfall and observing the African American since 1865, she believed that the elevation of the African American must come through education.
A. Viola Neblett | Religion
Albert Einstein's religious views have been widely studied and often misunderstood. Albert Einstein stated that he believed in the pantheistic God of Baruch Spinoza. He did not believe in a personal God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings, a view which he described as naïve. He clarified however that, "I am not an atheist", preferring to call himself an agnostic, or a "religious nonbeliever." Einstein also stated he did not believe in life after death, adding "one life is enough for me." He was closely involved in his lifetime with several humanist groups.
Religious and philosophical views of Albert Einstein | Introduction
But soon the white people found out and banned them from meeting again to talk about learning. Anderson was a slave.
William J. Anderson | Religious beliefs
Benjamin Disraeli could only begin his political career in 1837 because he had been converted to Anglicanism at the age of 12. In several states in the U.S. after the Declaration of Independence, Jews, Quakers or Catholics were denied voting rights and/or forbidden to run for office. The Delaware Constitution of 1776 stated that "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall (…) also make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: "I, A B.
Suffrage | Religion
God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omni-benevolence and omnipresence. Proponents of Abrahamic faiths believe that God is also transcendent, meaning that he is outside space and outside time and therefore not subject to anything within his creation, but at the same time a personal God, involved, listening to prayer and reacting to the actions of his creatures.
God in Abrahamic religions | Introduction
Chamberlin was a Mormon, an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He believed that there should be no animosity between religion and science. Stake President George W. McCune described a 1922 meeting in which Chamberlin testified "to the effect that all his labors and researches in the laboratories of science, while very interesting, and to a great extent satisfying to the intellect, did not satisfy the soul of man, and that he yearned for something more," adding Chamberlin "bore testimony that he knew that ours is the true Church of Jesus Christ." University of Oregon doctoral student Tim S.
Ralph Vary Chamberlin | Religious views
William was a devout Christian. He believed that if he was a good Christian, he would go to heaven. He thought that this was important because he had never been treated well on earth, and it would be one place he could be happy and rest. Finally after much practice and determination, William learned how to read. The next thing that he wanted to do was learn how to write. Late at night, when his master was asleep, he would practice his writing by candlelight. He soon took to teaching a short lesson on Sundays to some of the other slaves on the plantation.
William J. Anderson | Religious beliefs
Another Bible owned by Lincoln was used by both former President Obama and President Trump at their inaugurations.
Religious views of Abraham Lincoln | Modern views
According to Bateman, Lincoln asked him into his office one day to discuss a political canvass of Springfield. The canvass showed the intended votes of all Springfield voters, and Lincoln was vexed: Here are twenty-three, ministers, of different denominations, and all of them are against me but three; are here are a great many prominent members of the churches, a very large majority of whom are against me. Mr. Bateman, I am not Christian—God knows I could be one—but I have carefully read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book [the New Testament]. These men will know that I am for freedom in the territories, freedom everywhere as far as the Constitution and laws will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery.
Newton Bateman | Bateman and Lincoln
His faith in Christianity had already dwindled away and he had stopped going to church. He wrote out his memories of Annie, but no longer believed in an afterlife or in salvation. Emma believed that Annie had gone to heaven and told this to the children, with the unfortunate result that Henrietta wondered, "If all the angels were men, did women go to heaven?" She worried for months that her naughtiness while Annie was alive would mean that she would go to hell unless God forgave her.
Religious views of Charles Darwin | Death of Annie
Therefore, deep down, Abraham had faith that God, as an absolute moral authority, would never allow him in the end to do something as ethically heinous as murdering his own child, and so he passed the test of blind obedience versus moral choice. He was making the point that God as well as the God-Man Christ doesn't tell people everything when sending them out on a mission and reiterated this in "Stages on Life's Way". I conceive of God as one who approves in a calculated vigilance, I believe that he approves of intrigues, and what I have read in the sacred books of the Old Testament is not of a sort to dishearten me.
Søren Kierkegaard | Philosophical criticism
He was a self-described misanthrope and harbored contempt for organized religion and "political correctness", as well as "slave mentality" and other mindsets which oppose individualism. He agreed with many aspects of Satanic thought, but did not consider himself religious.
David Parland | Beliefs
Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms." Part of Einstein's tension with the Abrahamic afterlife was his belief in determinism and his rejection of free will. Einstein stated, "The man who is thoroughly convinced of the universal operation of the law of causation cannot for a moment entertain the idea of a being who interferes in the course of events — that is, if he takes the hypothesis of causality really seriously. He has no use for the religion of fear and equally little for social or moral religion.
Religious and philosophical views of Albert Einstein | Belief in an afterlife
The Abrahamites were a sect of deists in Bohemia in the 18th century, who professed to be followers of the pre-circumcised Abraham. Believing in one God, but rejecting the Trinity, original sin, and the perpetuity of punishment for sin they contented themselves with the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. Declining to be classed either as Christians or Jews, they were excluded from the edict of toleration promulgated by Emperor Joseph II in 1781, and deported to various parts of the country, the men being drafted into frontier regiments. Some became Roman Catholics, and those who retained their "Abrahamite" views were not able to hand them on to the next generation.
Abrahamites | Introduction
Later in the work, he aligns himself with a "renascent or modern religion ... neither atheist nor Buddhist nor Mohammedan nor Christian ... [that] he has found growing up in himself". Of Christianity, he said: "it is not now true for me. ... Every believing Christian is, I am sure, my spiritual brother ... but if systemically I called myself a Christian I feel that to most men I should imply too much and so tell a lie". Of other world religions, he writes: "All these religions are true for me as Canterbury Cathedral is a true thing and as a Swiss chalet is a true thing.
H. G. Wells | Religious views
He did not however consider that the choice of one's religion was unimportant, since he felt that only Christianity was based on reasonable standards.
Jacob Vernet | Beliefs