Yes, Mr. Minnery, Lincoln, Like Satan, “Knew” Scripture But “Dishonest Abe” Was No Christian
“[Lincoln] was not a church member, and some doubt he was a Christian, but none can doubt that he knew Scripture.” — Tom Minnery, Senior Vice President Of Government And Policy For “Focus On The Family,” writing in “Citizen,” April, 2007, in his column in which he says other things about Abraham Lincoln which are not true such as that Lincoln believed “human life was sacred” — except, of course, I guess, the tens of thousands of Southerners he sent his armies to murder because they wanted to be independent of the “Union.”
So, Abraham Lincoln “knew Scripture,” eh? Well, so does Satan. And everyone should doubt that Lincoln was a Christian because he was not. And there isn’t a shred of evidence to contradict this flat statement.
The following information, written at my request, is by the Rev. Steve Wilkins, Pastor of the Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Monroe, Louisiana. Much of his information is from: Charles Minor’s little book “The Real Lincoln,” (re-published by Lloyd Sprinkle, 934 Chicago Avenue, Harrisonburg, Va. 22801); Mildred Lewis Rutherford’s “Truths Of History” (1920); and “The South Must Have Her Right Place In History”(1923).
By Rev. Steve Wilkins
John Lofton, Editor
LINCOLN MUCH slicker than ‘Slick Willie’ Clinton and ‘never reluctant to tell the people what they wanted to hear, even if he would have to lie, forget, or ignore what he said at a later date.’The death of Abraham Lincoln proves, in his case, that the quickest way to heaven and semi-divinity is an assassin’s bullet. After Lincoln’s death, he was immediately placed in the pantheon of Yankee gods along with John Brown and other “illustrious” revolutionaries. Northern politicians and preachers sought to outdo one another in their praise for the former Congressman from Illinois. He was a faithful “servant and follower of Jesus” yea, even “the first of all that have walked the earth after the Nazarene”! He could be equated with Christ since, after all, both gave their lives sacrificially on Good Friday (the day Lincoln was assassinated).
All this in spite of the fact that those who knew Lincoln best, believed him to be anything but a Christian. Dr. J.G. Holland, author and long time editor of “Scribner’s Magazine,” acknowledged in his biography of Lincoln that “a very large majority of the prominent members of the churches in his home, Springfield, Illinois, opposed him for President.” Men who knew him throughout all his professional and political life said that he was far from being a religious man. But, when Lincoln gained public office, he began to keep his religious views to himself and to intersperse his public speeches with pious rhetoric.
Ward H. Lamon, in his “Life of Lincoln,” notes that Lincoln always had a feel for what would please the people (and pious words were expected of the politicians of the day). Lincoln began freely to resort to Christian expressions in his speeches, yet, says Lamon, “he nowhere ever professed the slightest faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of men… never told any one that he accepted Jesus as the Christ, or performed one of the acts which necessarily followed upon such a conviction. ..When he went to church at all, he went to mock, and came away to mimic.”
Professor Mark Noll tells of a paper “written for Lincoln’s eyes only” which eloquently animadverts upon the “puzzle” of God’s Providence. It is not unusual that his “private” meditation was made public. The only writings of Lincoln that were not made public were the ones in which he gave out his real views concerning Christianity. Both Lamon and William Herndon tell of a “little book” written by Lincoln to disprove the truth of the Bible and the divinity of Christ. This book was burned without his consent by his friends who were concerned that it would ruin his political career.
Herndon wrote to Lamon: “When Mr. Lincoln became a candidate for the Legislature (of Illinois) he was accused of being an infidel and he never denied it. He was accused of saying Jesus was not the Son of God, and he never denied it… In 1854 he made me erase the name of God from a speech he was about to make…I know that when he left Springfield for Washington he had undergone no change in his opinion on religion.”
Another close friend and confidant, John G. Nicolay (who, along with John Hay wrote one of the famous biographies of Lincoln), has said, “Mr. Lincoln did not to my knowledge in any way change his religious views, opinions or beliefs from the time he left Springfield to the day of his death.” Jesse E. Fall (another of Lincoln’s close friends) stated, “Mr. Lincoln’s friends were not a little surprised at finding in his biographies statements of his religious opinions utterly at variance with his known sentiments.”
Lincoln’s preference for bawdy stories and lewd jokes has been well documented. His willingness to make political promises that were conveniently forgotten or ignored cannot be denied. He was the only president to be elected by a smaller percentage of the popular vote than Bill Clinton and perhaps became the Slick one’s model and mentor. Lincoln was never reluctant to tell the people what they wanted to hear, even if he would have to lie, forget, or ignore what he said at a later date. The last time I looked, this was not a prominent quality of Godly rulers.
His famous “compassion” for his enemies can be documented only by his moving words. He has few deeds to back up his eloquent expressions. Not even Northern enemies of Lincoln received compassion. In May of 1864, Lincoln ordered General John Dix “to arrest and imprison in any fort or military prison in your command the editors, proprietors and publishers of the New York World and the New York Journal of Commerce.”
Hundreds of citizens were arrested because of suspected disloyalty and held without bail or assistance from a lawyer. Secretary Seward wrote to a U.S. Marshall, “you will therefore please inform all the prisoners at Fort Warren…that if the fact comes to the knowledge of this department that any prisoner has agreed to pay to any attorney a sum of money, or to give him anything of value as a consideration for interceding for the release of such prisoner, that fact will be held as an additional reason for continuing the confinement of such prisoner.”
Many of these so arrested were not told the reason for their arrest nor were they ever brought to trial. Secretary of State Seward once boasted to the English minister, Lord Lyons, that with his “little bell” he could imprison any citizen in any State. Whether the remark was ever actually made or not, Seward’s powers to bring such an outrage about was unquestioned.
One fails to hear a single word of Lincoln’s “compassionate” abandonment of his own prisoners who were starving to death and dying of infection in Southern prisoner-of-war camps. Over and over, Lincoln ignored pleas from President Davis to allow medicines (which had been declared contraband) to pass through the Northern blockade of Southern ports. He then refused to take the prisoners (who were offered without exchange for Southern prisoners) so that they could be fed and treated.
Food was scarce everywhere thanks to Lincoln’s “total war” policy on the civilians of the South. In spite of the fact that the prisoners were getting the same rations as the soldiers in the field, it was not enough to keep them alive. Lincoln, with (one supposes) compassion fully intact, ignored their plight and allowed thousands to die. These facts, along with numerous others which could be cited, should cause anyone to be more than a little suspicious of Lincoln’s theological rhetoric.
A footnote: In “The Washington Times” (1/10/95), Jack Kemp, obviously an ignoramus re: the real Lincoln, said, proudly: “It’s no secret I think Lincoln was the model for our party.” — J.L.