Lincoln declares “The Almighty has His own purposes.” While not a direct quote from the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments are replete with this teaching. One example is God’s words through Paul in ROMANS 9 : 15-17, quoting EXODUS 33 : 19 and EXODUS 9 : 16, respectively…
Judge Not
After clarifying his belief that the God of the Bible disapproves of the practice of human slavery, Lincoln urges, “but let us judge not, that we be not judged.” He alludes here to one of the most referred to and perhaps least understood verses in the entire Bible, MATTHEW 7 : 1.
Other Men’s Sweat
Speaking of the South’s slaveholders and those fighting in their defense, Lincoln suggests it’s “strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces…”
A Just God
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, like Patrick Henry’s Speech to the Virginia Convention, garners inclusion here, representative of those political speeches given throughout history that transcend their original purpose to become enduring literature. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural rises even above that, as one of the most important political speeches ever offered. At just 700 words, its brevity […]