Seems to me the implications of this are that Lincoln began as a Deist (a widespread stance among the earlier Founders of the USA) and later became a Christian. – AnonymousCoward 200.255.83.xxx
I don't think so. Belief in the Bible is a poor correlation to deist beliefs. The God of the Bible is hardly depicted as a watchmaker. <>< tbc
Ok, after I wrote that I thought, no, that probably isn't the right way to say it. :-) But we normally call people who "believe in the Bible" without "believing in Jesus Christ" Jews. You could probably get a best-seller and maybe a spot on Oprah from trying to defend that position (not that I'm suggesting you actually hold it!). :-) – AnonymousCoward 200.255.83.xxx
Again I have to disagree. I think you'll find that Jews today don't talk in terms of "believing in the Bible" the way Christians do. Jews are deeply grounded in tradition. Furthermore, the range of beliefs of those who "believe in the Bible" is vast. Jefferson, for instance, made a lot of anti-Christian comments, but he also funded Christian missionaries to the Indians. Mark Twain said, "It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." (See [2] for one citation.) <>< tbc