Twelve score and 10 years ago, “our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
When our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, delivered his famous speech on the Gettysburg battlefield on Nov. 19, 1863, he was harkening back to the Declaration of Independence.
Score = 20 years. Lincoln said, “Four score and seven years ago.” Subtract 87 from 1863, and it takes us back to 1776. The very thing we now celebrate 250 years of, the Declaration of Independence.
The Gettysburg Address is easily one of the top 10 speeches in American history. It is informed by the Bible, as we will see. So also was the Declaration of Independence, which mentions God four times.
We celebrate our national birth certificate on July 4, 2026, because 250 years ago, 56 men in Philadelphia, representing 3 million back home, made a voice-vote to approve the final wording of the Declaration of Independence. Only later did they all sign it.
During the Civil War, the nation was tested. It easily could have perished. It could have split into many nations, not just two. Once the division became permanent, it easily could have have divided up even further.
On a few occasions, I have had the privilege of interviewing author Dr. Daniel Dreisbach of American University. He writes much on the link between the Bible and America. One of his books is called, “Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers.”
I interviewed Dreisbach for my Foundation of American Liberty series for Providence Forum. In the episode, “The Beginning of Wisdom,” we set out to show the link between the Bible and widespread literacy in America. I have even edited a short portion of that episode to feature Dreisbach on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
In his Gettysburg Address, notes Dreisbach, Lincoln provides a virtual textbook case of the influence of the Bible on the founding and unfolding development of America.
Dr. Dreisbach told our viewers, “Abraham Lincoln, even when not quoting the Bible, spoke the language of the Bible. So, take, for example, perhaps his most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address. Now, there is no direct quotation from the Bible in the Gettysburg Address, but there is hardly a line that doesn’t echo King James-like language.”
Dreisbach goes on to give many examples, all of which are based on the King James Version of the Bible Lincoln used:
“Four score and seven years ago” harkens back to Psalm 90:10, which says, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten.”
“Our fathers” alludes to the patriarchs, e.g., Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the “Our Father” in the Lord’s Prayer.
“Brought forth” is used many times throughout the Bible, even in first chapter.
Why would President Lincoln use such arcane phraseology? Dreisbach answers: “Now, what I would suggest to you that he deliberately chooses this mode of communication, four score and seven years ago, to put his audience in a biblical frame of mind. He’s signaling to them; I have something serious to say here.”
Most importantly, notes Dreisbach, the Bible informs the overall message of the Bible: “What is the core theme of the Gettysburg Address? It is about the conception, birth, life and death, and new birth of a nation. That’s the gospel narrative, is it not? The conception of the incarnated Christ who comes to earth. Birth, life, death and resurrection.”
Picture Lincoln addressing the families of those who died on that battlefield, observes Dreisbach:
“And what does he say to them? He says, your sons and daughters did not perish here in vain. They gave their life so that this nation can enjoy a new life, a new life that will not perish. Now, that’s the final ending of the Gettysburg Address, ‘will not perish.’ Isn’t that kind of interesting? That echoes the language of John 3:16 and elsewhere, right? But think about this theme, there has been death here, but it’s not a death in vain. It is a death that gives us a hope of a new life, not simply a new life, but an eternal life. He uses the Bible in profound ways, and he’s speaking to an audience that knows exactly what he’s speaking to these broader themes about conception, birth, life, death and rebirth.”
In short, said Lincoln in 1863, “this nation, under God [needs] a new birth of freedom.”
Well, we’ve made it 250 years. Given the present division we see at this time, will we make it 50 years from now? The American experiment, articulated so well 12 score and 10 years ago, could easily perish, if we do not experience genuine God-given revival. It is my prayer that God will help us to make it so.