Savior of the Nation

                One hundred and fifty years ago on May 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was buried.  Tens of thousands of people paid their respects to the late President in the Illinois State Capitol and read the words “Washington the Father, Lincoln the Savior.”

                “Millions more encountered similar sentiment in the nation’s papers, pews, and parlors.  To a distant and more secular generation, eulogizing Lincoln as a national savior might seem like embellished hero worship, but understanding the context of such praise reveals profound and seldom-told meaning in the Civil War.”

                Thus Michael K. Erickson began his article entitled “The Providence of God and the Civil War.”  Erickson’s article explains how President Lincoln’s understanding of the purpose for the Civil War evolved “from saving the Union, to freeing the slaves, and finally to redeeming the nation.”  “For many Bible-believing Americans, the assassination of the venerable commander-in-chief became a last sacrifice to redeem the nation for its original sin of slavery…..”

                The article is very interesting and sheds much light on those who are far removed from the Civil War.  I personally believe the “offense” of the nation includes more than the sin of slavery; I believe it includes the persecutions of the Mormons who escaped from the horrors of the Civil War by moving to the Rocky Mountains.  At any rate, the price of slavery was paid by the blood of 620,000 Americans, mostly white men.  Ironic, isn’t it?