Fraternity-Testvériség, 1965 (43. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1965-02-01 / 2. szám
4 FRATERNITY organization in the usual sense. The family, however, appears to have regarded Lincoln as a fellow “receiver”. Yet another friend, Willis Johnson, owner of a brass and iron foundry, is recorded as having asserted that over a period he met with another friend and Lincoln, in the latter's law office, regularly on Saturday evenings to study and discuss the teachings of Swedenborg. This is certified to in a sworn affidavit filed in Canton, Ohio, in 1914« by an old friend. Swedenborg himself — the far-seeing Swedish scientist, philosopher and theologian who lived from 1688 to 1772 — never advocated the formation of another organized church but presented the doctrines of the “Nezv J er us alem” as those of a spiritual church the members of which would be known only to God. As for influence on Lincoln’s religious concepts, it appears fairly well established that Swedenborg’s emphasis on freedom of doctrinal interpretation and the application of rational thought to the formulation of religious concepts, exerted a strong appeal for him. Such teachings of Swedenborg as “Conscience is God’s presence with man”, “Doctrines divide but charity unites”, and his presentation of the three essentials of true religion as faith in one God, the holiness of his Word and a life of charity or love towards the neighbor, are clearly echoed in Lincoln’s own statements. D. 0. S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN — “THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR” On February 12, 1809 — 156 years ago — Abraham Lincoln, the 16th Prescient of the United States and one of the most beloved men in American history, was born in Kentucky. He grew up on the frontier as his family moved westward into Indiana and Illinois. The story of Lincoln’s rise from the humble log cabin of his birth, as a backwoods rail-splitter, storekeeper, lawyer and Congressman, to the Presidency, is known to practically everyone. His tolerance and idealism, and his belief in the dignity of man, combined with his common sense and homely humor, have made Lincoln a symbol of democracy and a revered figure wherever free men walk. His most notable speeches were his Gettysburg Address, delivered in 1863 in dedicating a battlefied of the Civil War, and his Second Inaugural address in 1865, in which he appealed to the embattled nation to “finish the work we are in . . . with malice toward none, with charity for all.”
