Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet Hardcover – 1 September 1995
by Wayne C. Temple (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
Print length 446 pages
Product description
Review
...the best book ever written about Abraham Lincoln's religious views... . this fascinating book is based on total mastery of the sources on Abarham Lincoln, and it will offer revelations even to those who have studied Lincoln for years. --David Herbert Donald, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
...fresh information about the Sixteenth President...challenges some traditional interpretations...unsentimental analysis of Mary Todd Linocln... the peculiar cicumstances surrounder her wedding will raise many eyebrows. --Dr. Michael Burlingame, Connecticut College
....Abraham Lincoln: from Skeptic to Prophet is the most complete and reliable treatment about the subject to date, and convincingly illustrates how America's greatest president came to be one of the nation's greatest spiritual leaders.... --Steven K. Rogstad, Lincoln Felowship of Wisconsin
About the Author
Dr. Wayne C. Temple has been called the greatest living Lincoln historian. He is a researcher whose discoveries have added significantly to the study of Lincoln and whose expertise is sought by virtually every beginning and established researcher of Lincoln. He has authored or contributed to literally hundreds of articles and books about Lincoln. He has edited various publications, including 15 years as editor-in-chief for the The Lincoln Herald. He is an Honored Member of state, national and international organizations including the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission, the Royal Society of Arts, and received The Lincoln Medallion for his contributions to the Revised Edition of Lincoln Day By Day: 1809-1865. He has served as Professor and Lecturer before the U.S. Congress, West Point, University of Illinois etc. Dr. Temple also held the John Wingate Weeks Endowed Chair at Lincoln Memorial University. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, can be seen on the history channel, and will be included in an upcoming PBS documentary on Lincoln. Other books by Temple on Lincoln include: By Square & Compass, Saga of the Lincoln Home; The Taste Is In My Mouth A Little...Lincoln's Victuals and Potables; Lincoln and Illinois' Fifth Capitol (co-authored with Sunderine Wilson Temple); and the upcoming Lincoln's Travels on the River Queen During the Last Days of His Life.
Publisher : Mayhaven Publishing; 1st ed edition (1 September 1995)
Language : English 446 pages
Customer Reviews:
4.2 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
Customer reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
Marvin Granger
4.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on Lincoln's Religious EvolutionReviewed in the United States on 6 September 2013
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Wayne Temple's book doesn't have an agenda to make Lincoln fit into an agenda. Lincoln's spiritual life was very complex.
He clearly had leanings toward fatalism from early in life which were finally expressed in his second inaugural address. During
the Civil War he became interested in the sermons of a Washington D.C. Presbyterian clergyman; but Lincoln never joined a
church.
Temple's book is the best I've read on Lincoln's spiritual life.
Verified Purchase
Wayne Temple's book doesn't have an agenda to make Lincoln fit into an agenda. Lincoln's spiritual life was very complex.
He clearly had leanings toward fatalism from early in life which were finally expressed in his second inaugural address. During
the Civil War he became interested in the sermons of a Washington D.C. Presbyterian clergyman; but Lincoln never joined a
church.
Temple's book is the best I've read on Lincoln's spiritual life.
Another good one is Ronald C. White's book on the second
inaugural address.
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inaugural address.
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Grandpa rated it it was ok
Shelves: 19th-century, abraham-lincoln, american-culture, american-history
It's very rare that I give up on a book, but after 100 pages I had to close this one and return it to the shelf. The author's writing is not riveting and he veers off at times on tangents that takes him pages to get through. The author obviously has much information obtained from his own reasearch to provide regarding his topic and he is also obviously bound to provide it to the reader, no matter how tenuous its link to Abraham Lincoln.
The chapters seemed to me to be nothing more than a series of lectures on how Lincoln was a God-fearing man. A very disappointing book after considering the blurbs of recommendation provided on the book jacket by significant Lincoln scholars.
A much better book on the topic of Lincoln's religious evolution is "Lincoln's Battle with God." (less)
