Lincoln’s religious transformation, assuming that there was one, didn’t show up until passing the buck for Civil War slaughter was convenient. “Divine judgment” gets to take the fall.
William Herndon worked beside Lincoln in their two man law office for 17 years. Herndon hero worshipped him. Herndon wasn’t shy about speaking up about Lincoln’s religious belief, or rather lack of it. And he did it repeatedly.
Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln’s White House bodyguard, had been a close friend of Lincoln since 1852. He voiced the same things regarding Lincoln’s view of religion that Herndon said. He didn’t correct Herndon, he didn’t contradict Herndon, he endorsed what he was saying.
Herndon and Lamon weren’t criticizing Lincoln. They were “defending his reputation”. They were skeptics and rationalists cut from the same cloth as Lincoln. They weren’t Christian believers and they resented him being hijacked by those who were.
Lincoln’s view of religion...