{"id":912,"date":"2013-06-28T20:23:38","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T20:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=912"},"modified":"2016-08-18T19:25:33","modified_gmt":"2016-08-18T19:25:33","slug":"meditation-on-divine-will-september-1-1862","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/meditation-on-divine-will-september-1-1862\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation on Divine Will (September 2, 1862)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Contributing Editors for this page include Mary Beth Donnelly, Michelle Grasso, Marsha Greco and Adam Sonstroem<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 36px;\">#35<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/node\/40524\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God.<em>\u00a0<\/em>Both\u00a0<em>may<\/em>\u00a0be, and one\u00a0<em>must<\/em>\u00a0be wrong.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Audio Version<\/h3>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F120713128&visual=true\"><\/iframe>\n<h3>On This Date<\/h3>\n<p><em>[Editorial Note: this undated fragment has traditionally been attributed to September 1862]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/panel\/this_date\/1862-09-02\" target=\"_blank\">HD Daily Report, September 2, 1862<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelincolnlog.org\/Results.aspx?type=CalendarMonth&amp;year=1862&amp;month=9\" target=\"_blank\">The Lincoln Log, September, 1862<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Close Readings<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/abrahamlincoln.quora.com\/Close-Reading-Post-on-%E2%80%9CMeditation-on-the-Divine-Will%E2%80%9D-circa-1862\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Beth Donnelly, &#8220;Understanding Lincoln&#8221; blog post (via Quora), September 2, 2013<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.quora.com\/Michelle-Grasso\/Posts\/Close-Reading-3-Meditation-on-Divine-Will-September-2-1862\" target=\"_blank\">Michelle Grasso, &#8220;Understanding Lincoln&#8221; blog post (via Quora), October 1, 2013<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mgreco.quora.com\/Close-Reading-Meditation-on-Divine-Will-35-circa-September-2-1862\" target=\"_blank\">Marsha Greco, &#8220;Understanding Lincoln&#8221; blog post (via Quora), October 1, 2013<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/177343746\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/177343746\">Lincoln Meditation Close Reading<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/user55051154\">Adam Sonstroem<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Custom Map<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=38.918418,-77.000942&amp;spn=0.107248,0.191059&amp;iwloc=lyrftr:msid:214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4,0004e062b8d276c8db20d,,,0,-63\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3443\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/divine-will.png\" alt=\"divine will\" width=\"416\" height=\"463\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=38.918418,-77.000942&amp;spn=0.107248,0.191059&amp;iwloc=lyrftr:msid:214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4,0004e062b8d276c8db20d,,,0,-63\" target=\"_blank\">View in larger map<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>How Historians Interpret<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIn a private memo for himself, probably written in the summer of 1864, Lincoln ruminated on the Lord\u2019s intentions. Dismayed by the terrible bloodshed of the spring campaigns, he asked why a benevolent deity would allow it: \u2018The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God&#8217;s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party \u2013 and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say this is probably true \u2013 that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.\u2019 Lincoln had long been pondering the will of God, which was not clear to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Michael Burlingame,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knox.edu\/documents\/pdfs\/LincolnStudies\/Burlingame,%20Vol%202,%20Chap%2034.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Abraham Lincoln: A Life<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2 volumes, originally published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) Unedited Manuscript by Chapter, Lincoln Studies Center, Volume 2, Chapter 34 (PDF),\u00a03798-3799.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn officer confessed that \u2018our men are sick of war. They fight without an aim and without enthusiasm.\u2019 Lincoln fell into depression. Edward Bates described him as \u2018wrung by the bitterest anguish \u2013 said he felt almost ready to hang himself.\u2019 Gideon Welles said the president was \u2018sadly perplexed and distressed by events.\u2019 If so, it\u2019s no wonder he thought more than ever about divine providence. In a fragment on divine will he wondered which side God truly favored, because \u2018God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time. He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest,\u2019 thought Lincoln, \u2018yet the contest began. And having begun he could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Louis P. Masur, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=HGwmabW_JuoC&amp;pg=PA93&amp;dq=lincoln+divine+will&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj_9cbb06XNAhWLWz4KHb5aDCYQ6AEIMDAD#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">Lincoln\u2019s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union<\/a><\/em> (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012), 93.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In September 1862, Lincoln penned his &#8216;Meditation on the Divine Will,&#8217; which clearly foreshadows the later speech.He leaves no doubt whatever as to God\u2019s complete sovereignty: &#8216;The will of God prevails.&#8217; The war exists, leading to Lincoln\u2019s humble supposition concerning God\u2019s will: &#8216;I am almost ready to say this is probably true\u2014that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet.&#8217; Moreover, the God whose will Lincoln contemplates is a personal God, actively involved in human affairs: &#8216;By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either\u00a0<em>saved<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0<em>destroyed<\/em>\u00a0the Union without a human contest. .\u202f.\u202f. And .\u202f.\u202f. He could give the final victory to either side any day.&#8217; We agree with Michael Nelson that &#8216;clearer evidence would be hard to find demonstrating not only that Lincoln\u2019s religious views had changed over the years but also how they had changed. In his 1846 election handbill Lincoln had written that the human mind is governed by \u2018some power, over which the mind itself has no control.\u2019 Sometime between then and 1862, he had identified to his own satisfaction its source\u2014no longer \u2018some power,\u2019 but rather \u2018his mere quiet power.\u2019&#8217; Lincoln no longer believes in a mere abstract force, but in divine agency, a being with an independent will and the power to implement it.\u00a0Beyond the content of the Meditation, it is important to emphasize that the document was not intended for publication but rather reflected Lincoln\u2019s private thoughts. John Nicolay and John Hay, Lincoln\u2019s private secretaries, state that Lincoln wrote it &#8216;absolutely detached from any earthly considerations .\u202f.\u202f. It was not written to be seen of men. It was penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying to bring itself into closer communion with its Maker.&#8217; Consequently, as Ronald White notes, the Meditation &#8216;becomes a primary resource in answering the question of the integrity of Lincoln\u2019s ideas in the Second Inaugural.&#8217; As &#8216;an authentic expression of his innermost views,&#8217; this document in itself undermines the please-the-public dismissal of the Second Inaugural.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Samuel W. Calhoun and Lucas E. Morel,<a href=\"http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/2027\/spo.2629860.0033.105\" target=\"_blank\"> \u201cAbraham Lincoln\u2019s Religion: The Case for his Ultimate Belief in a Personal, Sovereign God,\u201d <\/a><em>Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association<\/em> 33, no. 1 (2012): 38-74.<\/p>\n<h3>NOTE TO READERS<\/h3>\n<p>This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new \u201cUnderstanding Lincoln\u201d online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford&#8217;s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at <a href=\"http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Searchable Text<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God.<em>\u00a0<\/em>Both\u00a0<em>may<\/em>\u00a0be, and one\u00a0<em>must<\/em>\u00a0be wrong. God can not be\u00a0<em>for<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>against<\/em>\u00a0the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God&#8217;s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party&#8212;and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say this is probably true&#8212;that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either\u00a0<em>saved<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0<em>destroyed<\/em>\u00a0the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributing Editors for this page include Mary Beth Donnelly, Michelle Grasso, Marsha Greco and Adam Sonstroem Ranking #35 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript &#8220;The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God.\u00a0Both\u00a0may\u00a0be, and one\u00a0must\u00a0be wrong.&#8221; Audio Version On [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10856],"tags":[10864,10865,10878,10862,10876],"class_list":["post-912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-honest-abe","tag-notes","tag-private","tag-religion","tag-wartime","tag-younger-readers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4580,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions\/4580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}