Abraham Lincoln on Church and Religion – from Carl Sandburg’s Introduction to Lincoln’s Devotional

Henry C. Deming, Congressman from Connecticut, reported that when Lincoln was asked why, with his obvious interest in religious matters and his familiarity with the Bible, he did not join a church, Lincoln replied:

“When any church will inscribe over its altars as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior’s condensed statement for the substance of both law and gospel, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,’ that church will I join with all my heart and soul.”

And his law partner, William H. Herndon, quotes Lincoln as saying that his religion was like that of an old man he once heard speak at a church meeting: “When I do good,” the man had said, “I feel good; when I do bad I feel bad and that’s my religion.”