Lincoln's own wife said that he wasn't a Christian. She said "Mr. Lincoln's maxim and philosophy were: 'What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.' He never joined any Church. He was a religious man always, I think, but was not a technical Christian." She also said "Mr. Lincoln had no hope, and no faith, in the usual acceptation of those words." Many of Lincoln's close friends, including his law partner and bodyguard, went further and claim that he was certainly an unbeliever, although he didn't discuss it much for obvious political reasons.