Churchill quoted Scripture with effect

Churchill was not a particularly religious man; he didn’t quote Scripture often, but when he did, it was done superbly.  The following is my favorite.  (One of his great-grandsons has a book with a title of “God & Churchill”.  I didn't read it, but after reading some of the review articles and based on what I have read, I feel there is some imaginative stretch.)

While Cairo Conference was being planned, FDR cabled Churchill that their “meeting place is known to enemy” and suggested moving to Khartoum.  Churchill thought Cairo well protected and cabled FDR, “See St. John, Chapter 14, Verses 1 to 4”; the passages are:

Let not your heart be troubled:
Ye believe in God,
Believe also in me . . .
I go to prepare a place for you.

No sooner had the cable sent out, than Churchill began to regret, as he was afraid that people might be thinking he was so grandiose that he thought he was Jesus.  FDR agreed with Churchill’s plan in no time.

We heard the following in his first speech to the Joint Session of Congress on December 26, 1941, a bit over one year before Madame Chiang Kai-Shek did.

As long as we have faith in our cause and an unconquerable will-power, salvation will not be denied us.  In the words of the Psalmist, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.”  Not all the tidings will be evil.

Churchill was hesitated to quote the Scripture in the speech and mentioned his concern to FDR, who gave his approval; at which time Churchill was living in the White House.

Historian Arthur Marder wrote, “A stream of memoranda, virtually ultimata, issued from the Private Office covering every aspect of the war at sea and leaving the recipient in no doubt as to what the First Lord [Churchill was the First Lord of Admiralty during WWI and WWII] wanted.” These memoranda became irreverently known as the First Lord’s Prayers because they frequently opened with “Pray inform me . . .” or “Pray why has . . . not been done.”

In the old days “pray” was often used, instead of “please”.

Churchill’s first speech as the Prime Minister through BBC on May 19, 1940 is known as “Be Ye Men of Valour” as it was concluded by quoting 1 Maccabees 3:58-60 in Apocrypha.
Today is Trinity Sunday.  Centuries ago words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of Truth and Justice: “Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar.  As the Will of Gods is in Heaven, even so let it be.” (1 Maccabees 3:58–60)

By teh way “ye” is the plural form of “thou”.  I think this is from Hebrew Bible written at the time after the conquest of Judea by Alexander the Great.  But one doesn’t need to know the story behind it to appreciate how good a quote for the occasion.