Old Abraham Lincoln was a masterful speaker, and one of the greatest speech making presidents in our nations history. Along with "The Gettysburg Address", "A House Divided" is one of Lincoln's more famous works. The title of this speech refers not only to his subject matter, but to the political situation of the nation at the time. The country was quite literally divided, or on the verge of being divided, over the issue of slavery between the North and the South.
Lincoln makes a constant appeal to his ethos by basing his speech largely upon a Bible verse. "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." Matthew 12:25. The United States of America was founded by protestant refugees from Europe and since then, the Christian religion has been fundamental in the establishment of the country. This allusion to the bible builds the credibility and gives the average american, who's only exposure to literature at the time very well could be the Bible, a reason to believe the rest of what Lincoln has to say. Lincoln essentially borrows the words from the rhetoric master himself Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus spent three full years of his life spending most of his time teaching people and snowballing the single largest movement in human history: Christianity. In the context of this scripture Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders of the time, and his greatest rivals, the Pharisees. They have just accused him of using the powers of Beelzebub, the chief of the demons, and in order to combat this comment Jesus dismantles the logic of their comment.
Lincoln makes a constant appeal to his ethos by basing his speech largely upon a Bible verse. "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." Matthew 12:25. The United States of America was founded by protestant refugees from Europe and since then, the Christian religion has been fundamental in the establishment of the country. This allusion to the bible builds the credibility and gives the average american, who's only exposure to literature at the time very well could be the Bible, a reason to believe the rest of what Lincoln has to say. Lincoln essentially borrows the words from the rhetoric master himself Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus spent three full years of his life spending most of his time teaching people and snowballing the single largest movement in human history: Christianity. In the context of this scripture Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders of the time, and his greatest rivals, the Pharisees. They have just accused him of using the powers of Beelzebub, the chief of the demons, and in order to combat this comment Jesus dismantles the logic of their comment.