ifelong and regular attendant on its services. He had a reason for
occupying a position outside the fellowship of the Church of Christ as
it existed in his day and in his part of the world. This reason
Lincoln did not hesitate to declare. He explained on one occasion that
he had never become a church member because he did not like and could
not in conscience subscribe to the long and frequently complicated
statements of Christian doctrines which characterized the confessions
of the Churches. He said: "When any Church will inscribe over its
altar as its sole qualification for membership the Savior's condensed
statement of the substance of both law and gospel, 'Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,' that Church will I join
with all my heart and soul."

Abraham Lincoln in these words recognizes the central figure of the
Bible, Jesus of Nazareth, as "the Saviour." He recognizes God as the
supreme Lawgiver, and expresses readiness, while eschewing theological
subtleties, to submit heart and soul to the supreme Lawgiver of the
universe. His faith, according to this language, goes out manward as
well as Godward. He believed not only in God, but he believed in man
as well, and this Christianity, according to Christ, requires of all
disciples of the great Teacher.

About a year before his assassination Lincoln, in a letter to Joshua
Speed, said: "I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all
of this book upon reason that you can and the balance on faith, and
you will live and die a better man." He saw and declared that the
teaching of the Bible had a tendency to improve character. He had a
right view of this sacred literature. Its purpose is character
building.

Leonard Swett, who knew Abraham Lincoln well, said at the unveiling of
the Chicago monument that Lincoln "believed in God as the supreme
ruler of the universe, the guide of men, and the controller of the
great events and destinies of mankind. He believed himself to be an
instrument and leader in this country of the force of freedom."

From this it appears that his belief was not merely theoretical, but
that it was practical. He regarded himself as an instrument, as Moses
was an instrument in the hands of Almighty God, to lead men into
freedom.

It was after his election, in the autumn of 1860, and but a short time
before his inauguration as President of the United Sta