Abraham Lincoln and the Book of Mormon / Debunking Tim Ballard’s Bogus Hypothesis

Tim Ballard built a career selling stories to faithful Latter-day Saints. His book The Lincoln Hypothesis claims Abraham Lincoln checked out the Book of Mormon from the Library of Congress in 1862, read it for eight months, and returned it just days before issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The implication is clear: Lincoln freed the slaves because he encountered Nephite covenant theology. This claim has circulated in Mormon circles for years, repeated in Sunday School classes and Facebook threads. The documented record tells a different story, one involving anti-polygamy legislation, borrowed polemics, and a president who considered Mormonism a national cancer.

Background: The Myth of the Lincoln Hypothesis

Ballard’s hypothesis rests on a single fact: the Library of Congress checkout log shows a copy of the Book of Mormon borrowed under Lincoln’s name between November 1861 and July 1862. From this entry, Ballard constructed a narrative of spiritual transformation, suggesting Lincoln found divine validation for abolition in the Book of Mormon’s war chapters. Deseret Book sold this story alongside Ballard’s other titles, lending it institutional credibility. The problem is not that Lincoln lacked access to the book. The problem is what else was checked out at the same time, and what Lincoln actually said about Mormons when the cameras were not rolling.

Key Claims and the Documented Record

Research conducted by John Dehlin and presented on the Mormon Stories Podcast reveals that Lincoln (or his staff) did not borrow the Book of Mormon in isolation. The Library of Congress records show a cluster of Mormon-related volumes checked out within days of each other: Mormonism Unveiled by John G. Bennett Mormonism