Lincoln by Howard Pyle(1907)
byline: ruthannecallaham@myactv.net
My bookmark appears to have made it to the halfway point in the book, Chapter 27 ~ Good Friday 1865. At this point I’ve run full force into one of my pet peeves, a statement about Lincoln characterizing him as a “religious man but not a churchgoer.” Whoa ! Lets back up on that one. For me religious has always been that grouping of activities that one does to express their faith in God and His word. It includes attendance at worship services, mission teams, prayer vigils, and such. Merriam & Webster seem to concur with my opinion ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary) defining religion as the service and worship of God or the supernatural and faith as a commitment or devotion to something that is believed especially with strong conviction.
It is very difficult to be a religious person without consistent participation in the formalized religious activities. In the context of the saying ‘the world is run by those who show up’. How would one know what is happening in the religion if they are not goers to those events where other believers gather to change, tweek, improve the experience.
Faith on the other hand is a strong conviction to a principle, a concept if you will. One can have the faith to move mountains via consistent reading of the Bible. A person such as Lincoln. Independent reading & comprehension is something Lincoln did very well. Evidenced by his use of God’s words to bring clarity to his thoughtful comments and public speeches.
Sorry Mr. O’Reilly you got it wrong. Abraham Lincoln was a man of great faith, not a religious man.
You actually make it seem really easy along with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually something that I believe I might never understand. It kind of feels too complicated and extremely huge for me. I am looking forward in your subsequent submit, I will try to get the hang of it!