Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President (Library of Religious Biography)

Book Description

Since its original publication in 1999, "Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President" has garnered numerous accolades, not least the prestigious 2000 Lincoln Prize. Allen Guelzo's peerless biography of America's most celebrated president is now available for the first time in a fine paperback edition.

The first "intellectual biography" of Lincoln, this work explores the role of ideas in Lincoln's life, treating him as a serious thinker deeply involved in the nineteenth-century debates over politics, religion, and culture. Written with passion and dramatic impact, Guelzo's masterful study offers a revealing new perspective on a man whose life was in many ways a paradox. As journalist Richard N. Ostling notes, "Much has been written about Lincoln's belief and disbelief," but Guelzo's extraordinary account "goes deeper."

Customer Reviews:

Must read.......2006-03-24

This is fine biography traces Lincoln's philosphical and theological development and in so doing helps us understand the secret to Lincoln's greatness, which was his ability to make sense of the Civil War. If you ever wondered where the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's Second Innaugral came from, this book will show you. This remains one the most interesting and compelling biographies I have ever read.

Raymond R. Roberts Ph.D.

Inspiring.......2006-02-12

A breath-taking account of the life of one of America's greatest leaders. Lincoln's though and personality are an inspiration and a challenge to any thoughtful person. This book inspired me to a greater study of American history.

An Intellectual and Religious Biography of Lincoln.......2003-09-11

Biographies of Abraham Lincoln have tended to fall into two broad categories. The first category consists of biographies of the "subjective" Lincoln. These biographies are based largely on the many anecdotes and stories people told about Lincoln's life, typically during the early years in Illinois and concentrate on trying to explore Lincoln as a man (He remains an enigma.)The second category of Lincoln biography is the political. This biography focuses on Lincoln's public actions, typically during or shortly before his Presidency and draws on the lengthy public record available during the Civil War years. This type of biographical approach tends to give short shrift to the personal approach.

In his "Abraham Lincoln, Redeemer President" Allen Guelzo points out these two approaches to Lincoln studies (p.472) and says that his book is an attempt to combine the personal and public approaches to Lincoln. Professor Guelzo, Dean of Templeton Honors Colledge and Professor of History at Eastern Universtiy, writes a primarily intellectual biography; but he tries to explore the degree to which Lincoln's thought formed his political actions.

Professor Guelzo devotes a great deal of attention to establishing Lincoln's political identity as a whig -- an admirer of both Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. From his early days in public life, Lincoln was interested in promoting economic opportunity by encouraging the free market. He supported ambitious programs of public works and public education, to develop transportation infrastructure, (canals, roads, and railroads) and to promote the growth of industry and of a middle class. The whig approach emphasized public virtue, public morality, the value of hard work, and a unified United States. Guelzo effectively contrasts Lincoln's Whiggish beliefs with the agrarian beliefs of the Jefferson-Jacksonian democrats with their commitment to a nation of agrarian, self-sufficient yeomen and farmers. (Lincoln's father was such a yeoman, and Lincoln wanted none of it for himself.)

Professor Guelzo traces the beginnings of Lincoln's opposition to the expansion of slavery, in the early 1850's. to his desire to promote the development of upwardly mobile capitalist workers. He tended to see agrarianism as slavery slightly disguised. Lincoln never lost his whig commitments, according to Professor Guelzo, even after the party disbanded and Lincoln became a leader of the Republican party.

Professor Guelzo also studies the nature of Lincoln's religious beliefs and the importance Lincoln gave to religous questions. As is the case with Lincoln's economic rebellion against his father, Professor Guelzo finds the beginnings of Lincoln's religious thought in a youthful rebellion against the Calvinism and predestinarian beliefs of his father. Lincoln found he could not believe in the revealed God of the Bible, although he knew the Bible well. He could not accept the doctrine of predestination, but he came close to it in a secular way. During most of his life, Lincoln was a determinist who believed that people had little independent choice in what they did but acted in response to outside factors which they did not control.

According to Professor Guelzo, Lincoln also tended towards the englightenment of John Locke and towards the utilitarianism of Mill and Bentham. His politics and Presidency, of course, have distincly pragmatic characters. Throughout his life, Lincoln remained outside the fold of organized religion.

According to Professor Guelzo, Lincoln's thought developed as Lincoln confronted at deepening levels the difficulty of the Civil War. The beginning of this development was the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates where Lincoln vigourously attacked the morality of holding slaves. Lincoln's thoughts on providence, for Professor Guelzo, were instrumental in Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln told his cabinet he had made a promise "to his maker" to issue the Proclamation and that he could not do otherwise. (pp 341-42.) Guelzo continues his treatment of providential themes in Lincoln with his discussion of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address.

There is also a great deal in the book that discusses Lincoln's handling of the War, the border states, his generals, and the Army. Professor Guelzo's intellectual and religous themes sometimes get lost in these discussions, and we are reminded that Lincoln was a pragmatist, a leader and a consummate politician.

The picture of Lincoln's religiosity that emerges from Professor Guelzo's study has a distinctly modern flavor. (Professor Guelzo sees it as high Victorian.) Lincoln was a person who sought religous belief but could not find his way to an organized religion of his day. He was not, in his mid and late life, content simply with materialism and skepticism but rather developed his own religious thought based upon a rather loosely defined notion of providence and redemption. As personal as his thought was, it helped shape our nation. Lincoln's life, as Professor Guelzo presents it, seems to be a paradigm of many people today who reject organized religion in favor of a search for what many call spirituality.

On a political level, Guelzo's account of Lincoln stresses that the United States is and has become a unified Nation and that Americans should see themselves, for all their diversity and differences as part of a unified people. I also see the book as a reminder of the value of hard work and economic effort.

Professor Guelzo has written a thoughtful, provocative study of Lincoln the man, the thinker, and the President.

Lincoln the Whig.......2003-06-05

Like a typical biography, Redeemer President goes through its subject's life. But unlike most biographies, Redeemer President centers on the maturation of its subject's thinking. Guelzo shows how some of Lincoln's most famous ideas, such as his reliance on "the proposition that all men are created equal," was part of Whig orthodoxy. To trace Lincoln's development takes nothing away from his genius, of course.

This was one of the most enjoyable biographies I have read on Lincoln. One might begin with Oates' With Malice Toward None for Lincoln's life as a great story. Then go to Donald's Lincoln for a more modern biography -- lots and lots of facts, but with little attempt to see Lincoln as a product of his own time. Both are very well written, but I prefer Guelzo's over either of them.

If you like Guelzo's book on Lincoln's thought, you'll like A New Birth of Freedom by Harry V. Jaffa, which Guelzo calls "the greatest book on Lincoln's politics for another generation."

Where is the Real Lincoln?.......2002-12-07

Eerdmans should stick to theological tomes, rather than embarassing themselves with yet another propaganda piece for the Yankee cause. Guelzo fails to mention how Lincoln trampled upon the Constitution (Illegal arrests, Intimidation of duly elected leaders (e.g. Maryland State Legislature), and making war upon peaceful states which legally withdrew from the voluntary Union). A Government for the people, by the people vanished [Jeffersonian Constitutional Republic replaced with Consolidated Absolutism] with Lincoln's insistence that the Federal government existed before the States. The right of secession in America, beginning with the Declaration of Independence, was taught for decades until Sen. Sumner thundered from the Senate floor that this was a perpetual Union (Lincoln decided to carry this torch at the expense of 600,000 innocents). Lincoln's Emancipation proclamation was none other than a war measure (slaves were being used to build the capital and slaves were only declared free in Confederate held territory)encouraging slaves to revolt: this did not happen. Guelzo also fails to mention that slavery in the South was dying out and that roughly 10% of her people ever owned slaves. Guelzo failed to point out that the Emancipation Proclamation was illegal since it would have to take a Constitutional amendment to change the Constitution. Furthermore, his book fails to point out that the Emancipation had no jurisdiction in the Confederate States of America since the Southern states were no longer a member of the Union. I'm amazed at how people continue to admire a man who waged war on people who decided to follow in the footsteps of their fathers: Revolutionary War Heroes. The South was right, and the Northern propaganda machine is still filling the public mind with lies. If Abraham Lincoln embodies what a Christian is, then I'm not one, and evangelicals fascination with a man who was not converted until after Gettyburg is dangerous. Furthermore, I have no respect for a man who waged war on my native state: North Carolina.

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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President
Allen Guezlo
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: REDEEMER PRESIDENT.(Review) (book review): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: REDEEMER PRESIDENT.(Review) (book review): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
George McKenna
Manufacturer: Institute on Religion and Public Life
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Institute on Religion and Public Life on August 1, 2000. The length of the article is 1654 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: REDEEMER PRESIDENT.(Review) (book review)
Author: George McKenna
Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2000
Publisher: Institute on Religion and Public Life
Page: 64

Article Type: Book Review

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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.: An article from: Church History

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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.: An article from: Church History
James H. Moorhead
Manufacturer: American Society of Church History
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Church History, published by American Society of Church History on September 1, 2001. The length of the article is 951 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.
Author: James H. Moorhead
Publication: Church History (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2001
Publisher: American Society of Church History
Volume: 70 Issue: 3 Page: 586

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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.: An article from: Journal of Church and State

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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.: An article from: Journal of Church and State
T. Michael Parrish
Manufacturer: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Journal of Church and State, published by J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1019 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.
Author: T. Michael Parrish
Publication: Journal of Church and State (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2002
Publisher: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
Volume: 44 Issue: 1 Page: 162(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.: An article from: Journal of Southern History

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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.: An article from: Journal of Southern History
David B. Chesebrough
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008I8MR2
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on August 1, 2001. The length of the article is 548 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President.
Author: David B. Chesebrough
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2001
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 67 Issue: 3 Page: 676

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The Agony of Deceit

Manufacturer: Moody Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I5H2VM

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Horton's Agony of Deceit a Bummer

Much Needed Then And Much Needed Now

The Agony Of Deceit -- What Some TV Preachers are Really

Still True After All These Years

Much Needed Then And Much Needed Now

The Agony of Deceit/What Some TV Preachers Are Really Teaching

Manufacturer: Moody Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Seduction of Christianity

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Christianity in Crisis with Study Guide

Scripture Twisting: Twenty Ways the Cults Misread the Bible

Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World

ASIN: 0802487785

Customer Reviews:

Horton's Agony of Deceit a Bummer.......2005-03-30

This book deserves zero stars. Aside from a couple of good essays in it, this is one of the worst books I have ever read. In the name of protecting Christianity from frauds, Horton goes way beyond that to subtly undermine any trust in the Bible at all. He shreds miracle and despises the Scientific Creationists. When he is done you wouldn't dare trust ANYTHING about Christianity! Read this book only if you like pious-sounding frauds.

Much Needed Then And Much Needed Now.......2005-02-17

This book is a collection of essays written by Michael Horton and a dozen other writers from diverse theological backgrounds. They critique heresies of the modern church in the light of the Scriptures with documentation of sources and devastating expose'. The book is much needed in a world where Benny Hinn (who is not even mentioned by the way since the book was issued before Hinn was a household name) claims he will raise the dead, Jimmy Swaggart was exposed as an adulterer, and the Word of Faith crisis advanced beyond critical mass to include Creflo Dollar's "send me money" theme.
The book, however, does suffer from one weakness: it implies that NEVER has anyone successfully used TV either locally or nationally to spread the gospel. While correctly noting that the TV can never replace the ecclesiastical church, the book seems overly negative towards TV and radio ministries. Other than that, a fine read.

The Agony Of Deceit -- What Some TV Preachers are Really.......2002-09-10

THE AGONY OF DECEIT
WHAT SOME TV PREACHERS ARE REALLY TEACHING
EDITED BY MICHAEL HORTON

This extra-ordinary book goes to great lengths to teach what the Gospel is NOT and what the gospel IS. The editor, Michael Horton, apart from making significant contributions of his own, has gathered together contributors of considerable standing in the literary and Christian worlds. Their combined purpose is the exposing of the teachings of certain television evangelists with worldwide audiences numbering many millions.

It is plain from the text that, before commiting their opinions to writing, the contributors first attempted, by one-on-one counselling, to persuede the TV evangelists to reconsider their theological views in respect of the Gospel. When this failed they carefully analyzed the writings and broadcast sermons of the televangelists in the light of the Gospel as presented in the Bible. The contributors express alarm at what they consider false prophecy being propagated over the air waves, leading millions of believers to a gross misunderstanding of the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ with all its attendent consequences.

"The Agony of Deceit" equates the influence of televangelism with the harmful influence of the medieval church which preceded the Reformation led by Martin Luther, and which left countless millions of souls floundering for centuries in a kind of spiritual wilderness.

"The Agony of Deceit" questions whether or not television and evangelism can be equally yoked together. It warns about the nature of the television ministry leading to an atmosphere of alienation among Christians. It throws out a powerful challenge to the authodox church to get involved in television ministry to counter the message of the televangelists. And it calls for the setting up of a second Reformation which will lead believers back to a true understanding of the Gospel.

I was glad I read this book. It took me back to my Chtistian roots, refreshed my memory of the true Gospel, and alerted me to the dangers of false prophecy.

Submitted by Roger

Still True After All These Years.......2002-09-02

This book, edited by Reformed tehologian Michael Horton (also writes three essays in the book), was published in 1990 before the rest of the Evangelical community started to speak out against teh dangers of "The Word Faith Movement." The principles in theology have not changed toward applying to what is heretical word-faith nonsense and orthodox theology.

The strength of this book is the many different experts who rage in the battle for Christological and theological orthodoxy. Each person handels topics he is most apt to address. Horton's introduction brilliantly sets the stage, "This book argues that the struggle for orthodoxy is the struggle for the authentic 'message of Jesus Christ'."

Other chapters of note is the late Walter Martin's chapter on the "little gods" doctrine often snuck in by faith teachers. This was Martin's last published essay (he died after writing the essay, but the book was not published until after his death).
Horton's "The TV Gospel" and Godfrey's "The TV Chruch are written very well and are clear and concise. C. Everett Koop's chapter on faith healing and God's sovereignty is also extremely well done.

For another well written work on the subject read "Christianity in Crisis" by Hank Hanagraff.

Much Needed Then And Much Needed Now.......2002-08-24

The book, however, does suffer from one weakness: it implies that NEVER has anyone successfully used TV either locally or nationally to spread the gospel. While correctly noting that the TV can never replace the ecclesiastical church, the book seems overly negative towards TV and radio ministries. Other than that, a fine read.

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The Agony of Deceit: What Some TV Preachers are Really Teaching
Michael (editor) Horton
Manufacturer: Moody Bible Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O1O27M

Book Description

Gaylord Nelson is known and respected throughout the world as a founding father of the modern environmental movement and creator of one of the most successful and influential public awareness campaigns ever undertaken on behalf of global stewardship: Earth Day.
Now in his eighties, Nelson delivers a timely and urgent message with the same eloquence with which he has articulated the nation’s environmental ills through the decades. He details the planet’s most critical concerns—from species and habitat losses to global climate changes and population growth. In outlining his strategy for planetary health, he inspires citizens to reassert the environment as a top priority.
A book for anyone who cares deeply about our environment and wants to know what we can and must do now to save it, Beyond Earth Day is a classic guide by one of the natural world’s great defenders

Customer Reviews:

Any one who can read should read this book!!.......2003-04-29

This book covers what should be the most important Issue to all people in the human-rat race. It's an attempt to make people realize how fast we are using up our natural resourses.
I can only hope that this book makes it to the top 10 best sellers list, so that it gets read by a large segment of the population. It's a vary important message and it's easy to read in a short amount of time, and once you read it it would be wise to give it to a friend and have them read it and pass it on to someone else.
Why can't an American president stand up, and run on smaller population and less consumption? Humans will gain less and less with over-population.

Beyond Earth Day.......2003-02-28

"Beyond Earth Day" gives an amazingly thorough look at the state of our planet, then and now. Discussions of issues are well-referenced and Gaylord Nelson courageously presents honest solutions to problems that many people take pains to ignore. He offers history, wisdom, and guidance in an age when "environment" is an important issue to Americans, yet many are unaware of the seriousness of the issues our water, air, soils and biodiversity face. An America united by the knowledge offered by Senator Nelson has the capability to change the course of catastrophic events involving the very elements needed for life. Share the intelligence of this important book with everyone you know.

Earth Day Founder Recommends State of Environment Speech.......2003-02-21

Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson holds no punches in this book. He brings the question of the ability of the planet to sustain today's consumption-driven American lifestyle into clear focus in "Beyond Earth Day". His report card on the planet is dire but believable.

The book provides a strong case that more dire consequences are up ahead for all of us, unless the current political leadership in Washington abandons its "business as usual" mentality regarding the environment and begins to recognize the urgency and gravity of the situation we are getting into with regard to air, water, land and climate.

"It is time for the president and Congress to reach an agreement that sustainability is the challenge of our time and design a plan of action for the future... There is no room, nor time, for partisanship. The president and Congress should face this issue in a unified and cooperative way and should persist until we reach the goal", laments Nelson.

Earth Day Founder Recommends State of Environment Speech.......2003-02-21

Nelson recommends that the president of the United States deliver a "State of the Environment" speech to the American public and the world which outlines environmental challenges meriting the nation and the world's immediate attention, and the challenges that lay on the horizon. Such an address, Nelson says, is what is needed "to start public dialogue on the serious environmental problems facing the country and world today". People everywhere need to realize that maintaining the environmental sustainability of the planet is the most important responsibility we all have, because all life on Earth is interrelated, and because our economy is inherently dependent on the environment's "underlying resource base of forests, water, air, soil, and minerals".

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Stale environmentalism.(Book Review) (book review): An article from: Issues in Science and Technology
Martin W. Lewis
Manufacturer: National Academy of Sciences
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B0008DCNN6
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Issues in Science and Technology, published by National Academy of Sciences on March 22, 2003. The length of the article is 1598 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Stale environmentalism.(Book Review) (book review)
Author: Martin W. Lewis
Publication: Issues in Science and Technology (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2003
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Page: 98(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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Beyond Earth Day Fulfilling the Promise
Gaylord/ Campbell, Susan/ Wozniak, Paul R./ Kennedy, Robert F., Jr. (FRW) Nelson
Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORT5V4

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