SPRINGFIELD – When you’ve got a query a few U.S. president, you would possibly ask John Marshall.
Upon his retirement as long-time pastor of Second Baptist Church, right here, he started diving deep into the histories of America’s 46 prime executives.
“I got down to learn a serious biography of each president,” Marshall stated. “It took me two years, however I did it: 20,000+ pages. I plowed by way of them, studying the Pulitzer Prize-winning ones first.”
And now, the present interim at Nationwide Heights Baptist Church, right here, has launched his personal e-book of biographical essays, Lincoln and Christianity: Essays on Lincoln’s Non secular Life.
However the roots of these essays started even earlier than Marshall started getting deep into the lives of the presidents. Within the early 2000s, Hollywood titan Steven Spielberg introduced he was producing a film on the sixteenth president. That film languished in limbo for some time, earlier than finally releasing as 2012’s “Lincoln,” starring Daniel Day Lewis. Already a fan of presidential biographies and of Lincoln’s story specifically, Marshall noticed the elevated curiosity and started writing essays on Lincoln and his connections to Christianity. These essays finally advanced into the e-book.
“In fact, I really like Lincoln,” he stated. “Everyone loves Lincoln. We respect the emancipation of the slaves and his bulldog willpower to struggle the Civil Struggle, even together with his cupboard and different leaders towards him. There’s nobody like him in that he made large selections standing alone. Washington was shut, however he had the benefit of realizing he was invincible and will do something. Lincoln planted his ft and made selections with out that safety. I’ve all the time had that appreciation for him, however after studying all of the biographies, I used to be satisfied I used to be proper.”
Although Lincoln by no means made a public occupation of his religion, there may be zero doubt Christianity and the Bible performed a pivotal function in his stay, and that’s what Marshall’s essays discover: Lincoln and thanksgiving, his connection to Baptists, his frequent interactions with Scripture, his relationships with clergy, and in the end the underpinnings of his opposition to slavery.
“Lincoln grew up a Baptist,” he stated. “Laborious-shell Baptist, nearly, and that upbringing is why he was strongly, radically anti-slavery. They had been dyed-in-the-wool Baptists, although Abraham by no means joined the church. He struggled his complete life with how one can know for those who’re a believer. He didn’t grow to be an atheist, he got here shut and was proper up towards the sting.”
Lincoln misplaced his sons and, in fact, was confronted with grave challenges through the darkest days of the Civil Struggle. However that, Marshall stated, is when Lincoln shined.
“From then to finish is when he wrote the Gettysburg Deal with and the second inaugural – which is the best sermon ever preached in American historical past, most likely – and you may see him transferring away from his place of being frozen towards God. How far did he come again? We don’t know. He by no means made a occupation of religion, and he by no means claimed to have a relationship with the Lord.”
So even when his life isn’t a sworn statement to the Lord – certainly, Marshall factors out that not a single pastor in his hometown voted for him, most likely resulting from not being a professing believer – he’s nonetheless a sworn statement to widespread grace and the affect of Scripture and Christianity within the public sq..
For instance, Lincoln’s second inaugural deal with – the one Marshall calls probably the best (or at the least most well-known) American sermon ever preached – is an utility of 4 verses. In 703 phrases, he talked about God 14 instances, expounded on Genesis 3:19, Matthew 7:1, Matthew 18:7 and Psalm 19:9, and spoke of prayer thrice. Earlier than Lincoln, a reference to God was relegated to the ultimate paragraphs of inaugural speeches, and solely as soon as had the Bible been quoted, by John Quincy Adams. (In newer days, each Joe Biden and Donald Trump referenced God thrice, with no Scripture references of their inauguration speeches.)
Lincoln and Christianity: Essays on Lincoln’s Non secular Life is on the market as an e-book on Amazon.com, and Marshall stated he’s exploring the chances of a printed model.
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