Interpreting Lincoln's Second Inaugural Sermon, Part 7

Most of what I've wanted to say about Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, I've already said. But, it seems appropriate to close with a few points:

1. Just because war is the consequence of human sin doesn't mean that nations are always wrong in pursuing war. That seems to be a subtext of Lincoln's address.

As we've noted, he accepted blame for the Civil War for the South, the North, and himself. The ultimate cause, "somehow" was the sin of slavery. But, in considering the possibility that the war may continue, Lincoln was unflinching. Once the first cannonballs hit Fort Sumter in 1861, the Union had little choice but to fight back. Had the North simply allowed the South to leave the Union, carrying with it its "peculiar institution," the whole country would have failed in the pursuit of the promise of its birth, the promise based on the belief that all are created equal.

On the Fourth of July this year, a local radio station replayed comments I made years ago which were used as part of another station's musical and narrative accompaniment with Cincinnati's Independence Day fireworks. I recalled the veterans of World War 2 I had known. "Not one of them wanted to go to war," I remembered. "But each did what they had to do."

As I've discussed here, governments became necessary when humanity fell into sin. Sin means that not all members of the human race are willing to live in peace with their neighbors. That means that good behavior must sometimes be coerced. That was what Lincoln said needed to happen once the Civil War began. It's difficult to argue with him.

2. Lincoln seems to say that God is a God of both grace and justice. (This is what the Bible tells us as well.) We like the former attribute and, so long as we think God is on our sides, we like the latter as well.

But, Lincoln seems to assert, while God will remember that human beings are dust and therefore be charitable to the repentant, God nonetheless saw both the North and the South as being complicit in the war. Nations and individuals may be forgiven their sins, yet still have to deal with the consequences of them.

I hope that readers have found this series helpful.