The Generosity of Abraham Lincoln

1. Hate calls to hate in American history.

Before the Civil War, abolitionists spoke hatefully about the South, and Southerners spoke hatefully about abolitionists. Even before the war-killing started, there was violence.

Senator Charles Sumner was a strong abolitionist, and Congressman Preston Brooks was a Southerner. Sumner insulted a kin of Brooks in an anti-slavery speech. The next day, on the floor of the Senate, Brooks ambushed Sumner and beat him with a cane. The beating was so savage that Senator Sumner never fully regained his health. Brooks survived a congressional censure vote, resigned from Congress, and was immediately re-elected by the elated voters of his district.

At Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas, abolitionist John Brown and his men hacked to death five pro-slavery supporters. John Brown was celebrated in song. (John Brown’s Body.)

2. The generosity of Abraham Lincoln.

Not everybody shared hatred. Abraham Lincoln did not. He gave a speech in Peoria, Illinois in 1854. He attacked the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. This repeal permitted slavery to spread. He did not attack his opponents. He showed that he did not judge them.


Before proceeding, let me say I think I have no prejudice against the Southern people. They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not now exist amongst them, they would not introduce it. If it did now exist amongst us, we should not instantly give it up.

This I believe of the masses north and south. Doubtless, there are individuals, on both sides, who would not hold slaves under any circumstances; and others who would gladly introduce slavery anew, if it were out of existence. We know that some Southern men do free their slaves, go north, and become tiptop abolitionists; while some Northern ones go south, and become most cruel slavemasters.

When Southern people tell us they are no more responsible for the origin of slavery then we, I acknowledge the fact. When it is said that the institution exists, and that it is very difficult to get rid of it in any satisfactory way, I can understand and appreciate the saying. I surely will not blame them for not doing what I should not know how to do myself.
The insight "They are just what we would be in their situation " is brilliant, humble, and non-judgmental. And it is Biblical. It lives in "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Luke 6:37 (NIV).)

3. Lincoln’s understanding as a lamp to read the Bible by.

And Lincoln’s understanding, which is from the Bible, also reflects back on the Bible. It helps us to understand the importance today to us of some parts the Bible.

I’m reading the Old Testament prophetic book Ezekiel. I’m reading about the children of Israel, what they did before God crushed them and scattered them to the nations. They worshiped idols. They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters to these handmade gods. It’s easy to judge. It’s better to wonder: if I had lived in those times, would I have joined in these horrible practices?

Likewise, people often judge those who crucified Jesus. Instead of judging, the better response is to wonder whether we, if we had lived in those times, would have stood in the plaza in front of Pontius Pilate and shouted "Crucify!" Instead of assuming that we would have wept at the foot of the cross, it’s better to remember what Lincoln said: "They are just what we would be in their situation."

4. The good in us, the good in others.

If we have any good in us, we don’t have it because we are innately good. It’s the favor of Providence. It is the Holy Spirit working in us.

Hezekiah was a righteous king of Judah. The kings of Judah were good and bad. Sometimes they were very bad, like Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, and Hezekiah’s son Manasseh. But Hezekiah was the best of kings. (2 Kings 18:5.)

And he was righteous because of God in him. Toward the end of his life, God withdrew from him, and Hezekiah blundered. The blunder is described in 2 Kings 20. The blunder is explained in 2 Chronicles 32: "God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart." (2 Chronicles 32:31 (NIV).)

The Holy Spirit is at work in the world and in the universe, in the believer and in the unbeliever. God can withdraw the Holy Spirit at any time. My faith in God is what it is, and I consider it to be a bedrock of my personality. But recently, I believe that God withdrew my faith, and for the first time in many decades my faith collapsed in weakness. This humbled me.

5. Lincoln’s generosity as a light in these dark times.

We can choose to judge those Muslims in Libya who killed our ambassador and three others. But it might be better to remember Lincoln: "They are just what we would be in their situation."

I tend to judge the makers of the crude and hateful film that insulted the Muslim prophet and may have provoked the deadly response in Libya. So I too need to remember "They are just what we would be in their situation."

I tend to judge Mitt Romney. Some of my friends fume against Barack Obama. But "They are just what we would be in their situation."

So that we don’t think of ourselves more highly than we ought, or think of others more harshly than we ought, we need to remember what Paul said: "God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11:32 (NIV).)

As for our conduct, I guess that the right thing to do is to struggle against disobedience, as strongly as God empowers us to do. And we should give glory to God for the good that he grows in ourselves and in others, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, unbeliever.

Unlike the makers of the crude film that provoked fury in Islam, we should not call hate to hate. We should not return evil for evil. God calls us to love our enemies. Sometimes this is considered naive. But it is generous, like Abraham Lincoln.