The evocative use of biblical language, Joseph R. There was not a clergyman to be found so familiar with it as he.”Īmerican politicians and polemicists have long employed biblical language in their public discourse because, as an authoritative and sacred text, its mere invocation, it is believed, lends rhetorical weight to their words. Arnold, recalled that Lincoln “knew the Bible by heart.
His biographer and friend of a quarter century, Isaac N. Those who knew him best reported that Lincoln had an intimate and thorough knowledge of the sacred text and was known to commit lengthy passages to memory. Its author was well acquainted with the English Bible – specifically the King James Bible. The Gettysburg Address reverberates with biblical rhythms, phrases, and themes. It is widely acclaimed as one of the most poignant and eloquent speeches in American letters. Lincoln’s carefully crafted address was barely 272 words in length and required approximately two minutes to deliver. The battle claimed the lives of nearly eight thousand soldiers.
The solemn ceremony took place four and a half months after Union forces turned back the army of the Confederate States on July 1-3 in the bloodiest engagement of the Civil War. On the afternoon of November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a brief address at the dedication of a national cemetery on Gettysburg’s battlefield.
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