This paper examines one example of a spiritual hero, Abraham Lincoln, to reflect on issues about spiritual development, to connect spiritual development to character, and to indicate in what ways moral and religious development define and promote spiritual development. It uses Lincoln to show why spiritual maturity takes so long to develop and to show how spiritual development grows out of, rather than in parallel to, the many developments in our public and private lives. Finally, it shows the significance of being spiritual and why we should support spiritual development.
References
[1]
R. Niebuhr. The Irony of American History. New York, NY, USA: Scribner & Sons, 1952.
[2]
F. Owen. Abraham Lincoln: The Man and His Faith. Wheaton, IL, USA: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1976.
[3]
W. Temple. Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet. Mahomet, IL, USA: Mayhaven Publishing, 1995.
[4]
E. Trueblood. Abraham Lincoln: Theologian of American Anguish. New York, NY, USA: Harper & Row, 1973.
[5]
G.R.B. Charnwood. Abraham Lincoln. New York, NY, USA: Madison Books, 1996. orig. 1916.
[6]
H. Morganthau. “The Mind of Abraham Lincoln: A Study in Detachment and Practicality.” In Essays on Lincoln’s Faith and Politics. Edited by K.W. Thompson. New York, NY, USA: University Press of America, 1983.
[7]
E.D. Jones. Lincoln and the Preachers. Freeport, NY, USA: Books for Libraries Press, 1948.
[8]
R. Basler. Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings. New York, NY, USA: The World Publishing Co., 1969.
[9]
A. Ayres. The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln. New York, NY, USA: Penguin Books, 1992.
[10]
J. McPherson. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press, 1991.
[11]
D.H. Donald. Lincoln. New York, NY, USA: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
[12]
M. Burlingame. The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln. Chicago, IL, USA: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
[13]
L. Kohlberg. The Philosophy of Moral Development. San Francisco, CA, USA: Harper & Row, 1982.
[14]
G. Wills. Lincoln at Gettysburg. New York, NY, USA: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
[15]
H. Gruber, and P. Barrett. Darwin on Man. New York, NY, USA: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1974.
[16]
J. McPherson. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press, 1988.
[17]
W.J. Wolf. The Almost Chosen People: A Study of the Religion of Abraham Lincoln. Garden City, NY, USA: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1959.
[18]
D. Hein. “Abraham Lincoln’s Theological Outlook.” In Essays on Lincoln’s Faith and Politics. Edited by K. Thompson. New York, NY, USA: University Press of America, 1983.
[19]
F.K. Oser, and P. Gmunder. Religious Judgement: A Developmental Approach. Birmingham, AL, USA: Religious Education Press, 1991.
[20]
F.K. Oser, and K.H. Reich. “Psychological Perspectives on Religious Development.” World Psychol.？2？(1996): 365–396.
[21]
C. Macartney. Lincoln and the Bible. New York, NY, USA: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1951.
[22]
J. Fowler. Stages of Faith:The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning, 2nd ed.. San Francisco, CA, USA: Harper Collins, 1995.
