If Abraham Lincoln was Christian
December 17, 2013 at 9:15 pm
(This post was last modified: December 17, 2013 at 9:34 pm by Cinjin.)
...than why did his family/staff place coins over his eyes when he was killed?
I don't think it had anything to do with his presidency. I believe it was in ancient Greece that coins were first put on the eyes of the deceased so that their soul could pay the ferryman for passage across the River Styx. My confusion is this: If Abraham Lincoln was a Christian, why would it be the custom of the day to place coins over his eyes - a very "pagan" ritual correct?
How common was this coin custom among Christians of that time period?
In truth, I was hoping Minimalist might have some insight on this. It strikes me as odd that a professed Christian president would have such a ritual performed on his corpse (not that he had a choice). I'm not terribly fluent in Civil War era christianity in the United States.
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWgQ6DklrcPdxkUIhTxzB...c8BiFdANKW]](https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWgQ6DklrcPdxkUIhTxzBZrXnJih5C8FWcYclTjac8BiFdANKW)
I don't think it had anything to do with his presidency. I believe it was in ancient Greece that coins were first put on the eyes of the deceased so that their soul could pay the ferryman for passage across the River Styx. My confusion is this: If Abraham Lincoln was a Christian, why would it be the custom of the day to place coins over his eyes - a very "pagan" ritual correct?
How common was this coin custom among Christians of that time period?
In truth, I was hoping Minimalist might have some insight on this. It strikes me as odd that a professed Christian president would have such a ritual performed on his corpse (not that he had a choice). I'm not terribly fluent in Civil War era christianity in the United States.
![[Image: Evolution.png]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i1118.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fk619%2Fjcincain%2FPublic%2FEvolution.png)
