UPON THE ALTAR OF GOD
The Jefferson Memorial
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?”
Thomas Jefferson
President Jefferson allowed the use of public buildings for church services, including the US Capitol Building. When he wrote the first plan of education adopted by the District of Columbia, he used the Bible and Isaac Watts’ hymnal as the principal texts for teaching reading to students.
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HE WHO MADE THE WORLD STILL GOVERNS IT
The Lincoln Memorial
“I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance by faith and you will live and die a better man.”
Abraham Lincoln
The Gettysburg Address concludes with “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have anew birth of freedom.”
Lincoln’s second inaugural address, considered by some to be his greatest speech, mentions God fourteen times and references the Bible four times.
At a White House dinner during the war, the clergyman who gave the benediction closed with a thought: "The Lord is on the Union's side" to which Lincoln responded: "I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side."
In the November following the Battle of Gettysburg—the same month as the Gettysburg Address—Lincoln proclaimed that the last Thursday of November should henceforth be set aside as a day of thanksgiving. Many days of thanksgiving had been proclaimed by presidents before this one, but this proclamation is the one that finally made Thanksgiving the national holiday that we celebrate annually. Lincoln explained:
"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they [gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." [October 3,1863]
A year later, upon receiving a gift of a Bible from a group of African- Americans from Baltimore, Lincoln offered these words of thanks: In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to men. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it. To you I. return my most sincere thanks for the elegant company of the great Book of God which you present. [September 9, 1864]
Ray R Barmore
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