Many are looking forward to a holiday this month celebrating the birthdays of our nation’s presidents. Because two of the most famous were born in February, the third Monday has been set aside to honor them all.
Although many hated Lincoln during the Civil War, most Americans revere him today as one of our best leaders. His leadership was crucial in guiding us through the worst time in our history.
Where did this honored President get his wisdom and insight? One of his quotes reveals this when he said of the Bible, “It is the best gift which God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book. But for that Book we could not know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained in it.” Honest Abe was right again.
What many do not realize is that Lincoln also quoted from a Bible in his Gettysburg Address when he declared, “…that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Although not Scripture, he was quoting John Wycliffe who penned in the flyleaf of his first English translation, “This Bible is translated and shall make possible a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
Lincoln is not the only president to recognize the value of this great book. Teddy Roosevelt said, “The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally…impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed.” Sadly we are witnessing this today with failures to respect life in and out of the womb, the sanctity of marriage, and many other Biblical teachings.
Benjamin Harrison described the current division of our nation when he said, “If you take out of your statutes, your constitution, your family life all that is taken from the Sacred Book, what would there be left to bind society together?” Indeed, as the Bible is being removed we are discovering the prophetic truth of Harrison’s words. Even Andrew Jackson said of the Bible, “That Book, sir, is the Rock on which our Republic rests.”
John Quincy Adams declared, “The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible…I say to you, ‘Search the Scriptures!’” President Grant added, “Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties, write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book are we indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future.” Franklin Roosevelt stated, “Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying (the Bible’s) precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity.”
President Coolidge put it this way, “The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.” Sadly, since this foundation is being actively dismantled, we see our society and government disintegrating as well.
After referring to various Scriptures, President Truman predicted, “If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State!”
Somehow many modern academics, politicians, and entertainers believe we have risen above the Bible. They perceive it as an old fashioned chain keeping us from expressing ourselves and achieving our potentials. Sadly, as we sever this godly mooring, our nation bears the wounds which will only grow without a return to this Holy Book.
None of these men were perfect Christians, yet they recognized the key to America’s blessings. As we celebrate their birthdays may we hear and heed their words, and individually and corporately return to the greatest Book of all time that we might discover the God who loves us for all time and desires our best.
Blessings, George