Lincoln's Sacred Effort: Defining Religion's Role in American Self-Government

by Lucas E. Morel

Overview

Lucas Morel examines what the public life of Abraham Lincoln teaches about the role of religion in a self-governing society. Lincoln's understanding of the requirements of republican government led him to accommodate and direct religious sentiment toward responsible self-government. As a successful republic requires a moral or self-controlled people, Lincoln believed, the moral and religious sensibilities of a society should be nurtured.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739157206
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/19/2000
Series:	Applications of Political Theory
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	751 KB

About the Author

Lucas E. Morel is Assistant Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Religious Politics and Political Religion
Chapter 3 The Political Utility of Religion
Chapter 4 The Political Accommodation of Religion
Chapter 5 The Political Vices of Religion: An Interpretation of the Temperance Address
Chapter 6 The Political Limits of Reason and Religion: An Interpretation of the Second Inaugural Address

What People are Saying About This

Harry V. Jaffa

Morel's work draws considerably--as he acknowledges--from "Crisis of the House Divided", my book on the Lincoln-Douglas debates published forty ears ago, especially from the chapters on the Lyceum and Temperance speeches. However, Morel gives a thoroughly fresh reading of those speeches, and discovers in them dozens of biblical references, allusions, and paraphrases that I had not noticed or identified. In addition, he locates these texts within the framework of church history and church controversy contemporaneous with Lincoln.How Lincoln negotiated his way amidst sectarian differences, enlisting religious dispositions for non-sectarian political ends, especially in his Second Inaugural, is described with great sensitivity and great precision. I can say candidly that I learned a great deal from reading this book.
— Harry V. Jaffa

Editorial Reviews

Morel's work draws considerably—as he acknowledges—from Crisis of the House Divided, my book on the Lincoln-Douglas debates published forty years ago, especially from the chapters on the Lyceum and Temperance speeches. However, Morel gives a thoroughly fresh reading of those speeches, and discovers in them dozens of biblical references, allusions, and paraphrases that I had not noticed or identified. In addition, he locates these texts within the framework of church history and church controversycontemporaneous with Lincoln. How Lincoln negotiated his way amidst sectarian differences, enlisting religious dispositions for non-sectarian political ends, especially in his Second Inaugural, is described with great sensitivity and great precision.I can say candidly that I learned a great deal from reading this book..

Harry V. Jaffa

Morel has produced a solid, useful addition to the Lincoln literature.

North Carolina Historical Review - Professor Michael Burlingame

Morel has produced a solid, useful addition to the Lincoln literature.--Professor Michael Burlingame, Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois-Springfield and author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life "North Carolina Historical Review"

Morel's work draws considerably--as he acknowledges--from Crisis of the House Divided, my book on the Lincoln-Douglas debates published forty years ago, especially from the chapters on the Lyceum and Temperance speeches. However, Morel gives a thoroughly fresh reading of those speeches, and discovers in them dozens of biblical references, allusions, and paraphrases that I had not noticed or identified. In addition, he locates these texts within the framework of church history and church controversy contemporaneous with Lincoln. How Lincoln negotiated his way amidst sectarian differences, enlisting religious dispositions for non-sectarian political ends, especially in his Second Inaugural, is described with great sensitivity and great precision. I can say candidly that I learned a great deal from reading this book.--Harry V. Jaffa, Philosophy Emeritus, Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate School

From the Publisher

Morel has produced a solid, useful addition to the Lincoln literature.

North Carolina Historical Review - Michael Burlingame

Morel has produced a solid, useful addition to the Lincoln literature.
— Michael Burlingame

The North Carolina Historical Review