Lincoln's Christianity

A workmanlike investigation of Lincoln asks a question that Americans have been debating for at least 150 years: was Lincoln a believing Christian? American history teacher Burkhimer (100 Essential Lincoln Books) argues that Lincolns beliefs changed over time. Though raised by devout parents, the young Lincoln was a skeptic. Then, in 1849, he read a work of Christian apologetics written by a Springfield, Illinois minister, and he became much more interested in Christianity. Still, Burkhimer says we cant quite call Lincoln an orthodox Christian; he read the Bible and believed Jesus death did atoning work, but he did not necessarily believe Jesus was equal to God. Burkhimers account is by turns eccentric and derivative: his reading of the Second Inaugural address, a speech certainly animated by religious concerns, says little thats new, and his digressive suggestion that Lincoln was most attached to New Testament passages that coincided with Q, a hypothetical first-century text some New Testament scholars believe was the basis for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, is a bit belabored. Overall, Burkhimer could have gone further in explaining why understanding Lincolns religiosity matters. Though serviceable, this study wont unseat Allen Guelzos Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President as the most significant consideration of the 16th presidents religious life.