Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian?

The testimony of Abraham Lincoln "consecrating" himself to Jesus was told in a sermon by the Reverend Isaac E. Carey on November 24, 1864, and subsequently published in the Freeport Weekly Journal on December 7, 1864.  Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian?  Carefully read the testimony found in the second column of text, in the second to last paragraph near the bottom:

Public Domain Image
You are reading from http://thefaithofabrahamlincoln.blogspot.com/

I add the text of a note I received from Dr. Mark Noll on February 14, 2015:
"Dear Hunter Irvine,
   Thanks much for sending this photocopy.  As you know very well, reports on Lincoln published before April 1865 are many times more valuable than those appearing afterwards.  This is a most interesting document.
   My best in all your efforts, Mark Noll"

The tragic loss of Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago today

   150 years ago was the tragedy of President Abraham Lincoln being murdered.  He was shot at Ford’s Theater on Friday April 14th, and he passed away at 7:22am the following day.  In the late fall of 2005, I read Lincoln for the Ages, which I think is great, (minus chapter 49)!  The day after Christmas, I had to go to work at my “temp” job showing model homes.  I was in Brighton, Colorado, sitting in a model home.  No one was visiting, so I read in the quiet home, reaching the conclusion of the book.  Reading the chapter on the death of Lincoln, once I reached 7:22am on April 15th, I cried.  There after a nice Christmas, there in a model home, there in Colorado 140 years after he was killed, I cried, because even though I never even lived in this world at the same time as Lincoln, after reading that book, I love him.
   Scripture teaches people are sinful because of the separation between God and man.  Doing that which is opposed to the will of God is wrong and brings hurt.  There are countless tragedies in history because of sin.  There will be tragedies today in this world because of sin.  And Scripture teaches Jesus is the only hope for people, the One who offers mercy for any person, and the One who will in His time carry out justice by judging all people.  Jesus died as the substitute for the consequence of sins of anyone, which is spiritual death, thus now any person who receives His gift by believing in Jesus will be forgiven of sins and will have eternal life.
   The Bible teaches dying for someone is the greatest act of love.  Jesus died for people, because He loves people.
   When Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd took their wedding vows, Abraham place a ring on her finger which was inscribed: “Love is eternal.”[1]  The teaching of Scripture is that such eternal true love comes from Jesus, the One who loves everyone.
Hunter Irvine

[1] Ralph Newman, ed., Lincoln for the Ages (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1960), 81.

On the birthday of Abraham Lincoln

   On this day of remembrance, I explain why I have an intense interest in the faith of Abraham Lincoln, a subject debated by many folks over the years.  When I was a young boy, my family moved to Northern Virginia because my dad gained a job with the Federal government in Washington, D.C.  As a boy, one summer day Mom took my sister and I to see the Lincoln Memorial.  I was extremely impressed and moved emotionally as I read his profound words etched in the stone.  Afterwards we walked around the side of the building to an area where there was a window where you could see the open space under the Lincoln Memorial, which I thought was cool.  Nearby was a woman sitting at a portable stand selling Abraham Lincoln books.  Before leaving we looked at her books, and I found one on my reading level.  My mom, who was always supportive of me reading, offered to buy it for me.

   The book was Abraham Lincoln by Anne Colver, first published in 1960.  I read the book, and the result was that as a young boy, I came to admire Abraham Lincoln.  As I grew older, I gained an increasing interest in American history, and my admiration for Lincoln only increased.  As a Boy Scout with Troop 150 in Annandale, Virginia, we toured many Civil War battle sites, so many I got tired of the many war details.  Though an active teenager who was more interested in having fun with my fellow Scouts than the war stuff, I still gave plenty of attention to the Civil War education, and I learned the Civil War was an epic tragedy.  I remember standing once in a museum at one of the many battlefields we toured, reading the statement that more Americans were killed in the Civil War than any other war.  I was saddened.

   Less than one year after graduating from the great Virginia Tech, I gave my heart to Jesus.  Thus I have been following Jesus since that April day in 1990.  Years later, I was reading a book which has short biographies of many Christians, entitled More Than Conquerors.[1]  That book has a piece about the faith of Abraham Lincoln.  The piece was fascinating, but the author did not give a single citation.  Thus when he gave the testimony of Lincoln, I had no way of knowing if it was genuine.

   The result is I wanted to learn whether the testimony given was legit.  Over three years later, I was studying at the special Colorado Christian University, and I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Ronald Rietveld, professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton, speak.  His topic: the faith of Abraham Lincoln.  And the pinnacle of the talk was the same testimony told in More Than Conquerors.  Afterwards he told me he had personally seen the quote written by Lincoln himself in a letter which had been archived by someone at, or from, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.  After talking with Dr. Rietveld, I began doing my own research into the testimony, and this blog expresses the results of that research.
Hunter Irvine

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[1] John Woodbridge, ed., More Than Conquerors (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992).

Abraham Lincoln photogravure from Fassett

   The sole purpose of this post is to give information about the photogravure which heads this blog, a blog which considers the Christian testimony of Abraham Lincoln.

   Who took the original photo?  It was Samuel M. Fassett.

Take a close look at this famous picture by Fassett:

Portrait by Samuel M. Fassett from October of 1859.

LC-USZ62-11492

Courtesy of Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009630657/

   This portrait is best known to be the one that First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln liked the most!

   The Library of Congress has two photos listed together, apparently the same photo, though the second is more of a closeup like the photogravure:

Portrait by Samuel M. Fassett from October of 1859.

LC-USZ62-7727

Courtesy of Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009630657/

   My discovery of the photogravure all started with a tour in East High School in Denver.  (I tell that story at the end of this piece.)  That led to an Internet search where I found a 1907 pamphlet advertising the sale of the photogravure by A.W. Elson and Co.

You can check it out at the "Open Library:"

https://archive.org/stream/portraitsofabrah00awel#page/n1/mode/2up

   A.W. Elson and Company had copyrighted the photogravure in 1894, and they clearly identified Alexander Hesler as the photographer in their advertisement.  They also claimed it came from a daguerreotype.

   I assumed the pamphlet was true until one day I was in a bookstore looking at a Lincoln book.  I saw this photo in that book, and I recognized it!  Hesler was not identified as the photographer, thus I started researching the subject.

   Did A.W. Elson make a mistake regarding the photographer?  Yes.

   And they may have made a mistake saying it came from a daguerreotype.  I read information from the Smithsonian Institute, on a web-page which is now gone, and that person said the picture is a Salt Print.

   And it is widely stated the "negative" was destroyed in the Chicago fire in 1871.  If so, A.W. Elson and Co. would have made the photogravure simply from a print, though they claimed to have a daguerreotype.  There remains a bit of a mystery for me on this subject.

   In-spite of their big mistake about the identify of the photographer, and in-spite of a possible mistake about their source for their photogravure, I personally am grateful that A.W. Elson and Co. of Boston produced such a magnificent photogravure!

   Offering an addition in 2025, I found two photos on the Internet which are a treasures, because they have Fassett's studio mark on the back of the photo.

   The source: "Scholars Junction" at Mississippi State University.

https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1253&context=fvw-cdv

   Here is the front and the back!!

Fassett Portrait of Lincoln,

Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana,

Mississippi State University Libraries.

   I first viewed this great portrait during a tour of East High School in Denver, Colorado, as a part of "Doors Open Denver," in 2013.  I was going from the museum room to the observation tower.  (East High is quite the exquisite high school.  How many high schools have a museum room?)  This portrait hung on the wall by the stairwell leading to the tower.  (Recognizing it's value, I talked with an administrator at East High the next day to recommend it come under better security surveillance.)

   I found the large portrait to be stunning.  I stood there for awhile admiring it.  I wished I had a camera.

   The portrait was a gift from five African-American graduates of East High School, called Denver High School at that time, in appreciation of all Lincoln did for African-Americans.  The gift was given on Lincoln's birthday in 1897.  I was touched by their gratitude, and I was encouraged by their genuine appreciation for the work and the sacrifice which Abraham Lincoln made for his fellow American citizens.

   I am proud to have that photogravure heading this blog.  The day I saw this magnificent portrait for the first time was a great day in my life, since it was a personal view of the man who served for the cause of morality, with hope for goodness for all people.

Hunter Irvine

(This piece was edited on 9/6/2025.)