RE: If Abraham Lincoln was Christian
December 18, 2013 at 5:34 am
(This post was last modified: December 18, 2013 at 6:11 am by BrianSoddingBoru4.)
Placing coins on the eyes of a corpse was a method of keeping the eyes closed during viewing - it looks better than stitches (eyes currently are glued shut).
Several sources indicate that this has been a widespread practice among Christians in Europe since at least the 15th century, and the similarity with the Greek tradition of paying the ferryman seems to be a coincidence.
I wasn't able to find any indication about how common the coins-on-the-eyes thingy was in 19th century US, but Mark Twain in describing his brother's funeral (killed in a steamboat explosion) mentioned that silver dollars were placed on the eyes.
Hope this helps.
Boru
addendum: found this cool Lincoln quote:
'The Bible says somewhere that we are desperately selfish. I think we would have discovered that fact without the Bible.'
Several sources indicate that this has been a widespread practice among Christians in Europe since at least the 15th century, and the similarity with the Greek tradition of paying the ferryman seems to be a coincidence.
I wasn't able to find any indication about how common the coins-on-the-eyes thingy was in 19th century US, but Mark Twain in describing his brother's funeral (killed in a steamboat explosion) mentioned that silver dollars were placed on the eyes.
Hope this helps.
Boru
addendum: found this cool Lincoln quote:
'The Bible says somewhere that we are desperately selfish. I think we would have discovered that fact without the Bible.'
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
