The recent rediscovery of a Bible once owned by Abraham Lincoln has renewed a longstanding debate about Lincoln’s faith and what role it played in his life and presidency. It has also reminded us how maddeningly untraditional and surprisingly modern his faith was.
The high ground in these debates has long been occupied by those who see Lincoln as a stalwart believer, a man converted and equal to the many references to God in his magnificent speeches.
Then there are those, most Lincoln scholars among them, who insist that Lincoln was an atheist, or at least an agnostic, and that his public use of God language was merely the religious window dressing required of politicians in a religious age.