Abraham Lincoln is one of the most respected men in history. He is respected for his honesty, humility, humanity, wisdom and intelligence. He is respected for his leadership during the most stressful and challenging presidency in the history of the United States. He is respected for his part in the greatest civil rights movement of all time which was the bloody Civil War. It’s not surprising that people would seek to align themselves with him, or align him with themselves. There are non-religious groups that want to label the greatest Republican President as secular. Is that a true characterization? Is that an honest assessment?

During the lifespan of any deep thinker, as Lincoln was, there will be times of doubt. There will be times of analysis and self examination where so-called foundations of belief are scrutinized to the highest degree. Doubt is an amazing thing; it can lead to another direction, or it can lead to a deeper commitment of faith. With any historical, or even modern figure, with a vast array of personal writings, correspondence and history, the opportunity exists to cherry pick portions of text to portray the person in a specific way, or assign them a label.

Abraham Lincoln once said: "The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

Based on this quote, it would appear that Lincoln was not Christian and did not hold the Bible in high regard. There are also statements made by those who knew him well, including his wife Mary, that indicate he was certainly not religious in the traditional sense.

In order to attempt a true assessment, one must examine both sides. There are certainly statements by Lincoln that indicate a remarkable faith in God and evidence that he frequently read the Bible. Of all the statements made by Lincoln, his Second Inaugural Address which he shouted to a large crowd on March 4, 1865, shortly before his assassination, must be considered heavily in weighing his beliefs regarding God and slavery. Below is the second half.

"The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!' If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether." With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."