As pundits fret over America’s political Balkanization, many also note that it has been worse before: The 2016 election might have brought out the worst in many, but it’s nothing compared with the Civil War. This well-known narrative is often told as a secular story. Less appreciated is how faith helped bring Americans together after that deadly conflict.
April 1865 was mostly a time of optimism. The Civil War was all but over. The Confederate capital, Richmond, fell on April 3, and President Abraham Lincoln even walked through...