"Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes."

What theme is presented in this passage from President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address?

a. God's purpose is to destroy nations at war
b. God's purpose is not the purpose of man
c. reading the Bible and praying invoke anger
d. reading the Bible does not allow answers to prayer

Explanation: In literature, the theme is the underlying message of a story, it is what critical belief about life is the author trying to convey in the writing of a novel, play, short story or poem. Usually this belief, or idea, is universal and transcends cultural barriers. In the given passage from President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, he says that God's purpose is not the purpose of man, by giving an example of two men that prayed against each other, and neither of their prayers were fully answered, because God has His own purposes.