Personal ... Dear Dr. Reisner: Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Answering your letter of the tenth: Theodore Roosevelt was a true Christian. Ho believed in God, and that all peoples must have faith that a nation forsaking its religion is a decadent nation. He was a churchgoer, as an evidence of his faith and for purpose of worship. His life, his ideals and his acts established his faith in God. He was a reader of the Bible. I have no recollection of hearing him take the name of God in vain. I believe that he gathered many of his ethical ideals from the Scriptures. His courage was maintained by his sense of righteousness and justice. He was clean in thought and speech; a man of broad sympathy, a sympathy limited neither by race nor creed. He was a doer of good works, and a strenuous advocate of those principles which are laid down in the Commandments. Dr. Christian F. Resiner, 550 W. 157th Street, New York City. Sincerely yours, AN EXPLANATION A RECENTLY published bibliography containing a list of over five hundred books and pamphlets about and by Theodore Roosevelt contains not a single article, pamphlet, or book about Mr. Roosevelt's religion. Religion was the heart of his life, the creator of his ideals, the sustainer of his courage, the feeder of his faith, and the fountain of his wisdom. Without religion the greatness of Mr. Roosevelt is inexplicable. He was a typical and outstanding American because he did have a vital religious faith and a daily practice consistent with it. Gladstone near the end of his life said: I have been in public life fifty-eight years, and fortyseven in the Cabinet of the British government, and during these forty-seven years I have been associated with sixty of the master minds of the country and all but five were Christians. All history will show that pure religion builds the greatest leaders of earth. To find a truly great man is to find a man with faith in the Father-God and one who has consciously or unconsciously followed the program of Jesus. American history was made by Christians-and this term is not used in a narrow, sectarian sense. It is employed in the spirit of the Great Teacher who, when the disciples reported that they checked one who was "casting out devils" because he "followed not with us" told them, "Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us." The Pilgrim Fathers began the New England colony with prayer. Our first constitutional convention at Benjamin Franklin's suggestion, opened its sessions with a religious service. Washington offered petitions in secluded places in the forest. Abraham Lincoln sent for Bishop Simpson, that they might pray together at critical times. William McKinley in his death hour gave a new meaning to the forgiveness of enemies. When the Titanic carried down the brave American men who had sent the women away safely in the lifeboats, the band played "Nearer, My God, to Thee" as the ship sank. The three generals who led the Allied forces to victory were General Foch, a devout Roman Catholic, who prayed much daily; General Haig, a faithful Presbyterian; and General Pershing, who was reared in the Methodist Church and is now a communicant in the Protestant Episcopal Church. All agree that there were no atheists in the trenches. A careful investigation will show that the great men of America are believers in God and in the brotherhood of man as exemplified by the Father's Son, who came to earth and lived among men. Men are not rewarded for their "faith" in an arbitrary way, but such faith and training develops and equips big men and sustains them under strain. The promise was "Seek first the kingdom of God"the rulership of the Christ spirit-and "all things shall be added unto you," and that promise is literally fulfilled. Theodore Roosevelt stands out as the towering, unquestioned illustration of the size and kind of men pure religion builds. He was strongly human and yet devout, admittedly imperfect and yet sincerely seeking the truth, notably self-confident and yet avowedly a worshipful disciple of the humble Teacher of Galilee. He went away from earth carrying the diploma of a completed life course, and hence is a beckoning example to all who would think widely, contest successfully, serve steadily, live happily, and cross the river at the end triumphantly. The words of many witnesses following various vocations have been freely and frequently quoted because the important subject of religion dare not be left either to an author's declarations or even to his interpretation of quotations. The evidence presented will be recognized as conclusive. The author desires to express his appreciation to the publishers of the following volumes for their courtesy in permitting unusual liberty in quoting from Mr. Roosevelt's writings: Theodore Roosevelt, the Man as I Knew Him. By Ferdinand C. Iglehart. The Christian Herald, Publishers. "Bill" Sewall's Story of Theodore Roosevelt. By William Wingate Sewall. Harper & Brothers, Publishers. The Boy's Life of Theodore Roosevelt. By Herman Hagedorn. Harper & Brothers, Publishers. Theodore Roosevelt. By William Roscoe Thayer. Houghton Mifflin Company, Publishers. Theodore Roosevelt, the Logic of His Career. By Charles G. Washburn. Houghton Mifflin Company, Publishers. Talks With T. R. By John J. Leary, Jr. Houghton Mifflin Company, Publishers. The Life of Theodore Roosevelt. By William Draper Lewis. John C. Winston Company, Publishers. Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt. By Lawrence F. Abbott. Doubleday, Page & Company, Publishers. Theodore Roosevelt, the Boy and the Man. By James Morgan. The Macmillan Company, Pub lishers. Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen. By Jacob Riis. The Macmillan Company, Publishers. Personal Memoirs of the Home Life of the Late Theodore Roosevelt. By Albert Loren Cheney. Cheney Publishing Company, Publishers. American Ideals and Other Essays. By Theodore Roosevelt. G. P. Putnam's Sons, Publishers. Roosevelt, His Life Meaning and Messages, Vol. I -The Roosevelt Policy. The Current Literature Company, Publishers. The Many-Sided Roosevelt. By George William Douglas. Dodd, Mead & Company, Publishers. From the Jungle Through Europe with Roosevelt. By John O'Laughlin. Chapple Publishing Company, Ltd., Boston, Publishers. Realizable Ideals-The Earl Lectures, delivered under the auspices of the Pacific Theological Seminary. By Theodore Roosevelt. Whitaker & RayWiggin Co., Publishers, San Francisco. |