Paul Johnson, Churchill (New York: Penguin, 2010), 94:
Britain alone was not capable of crushing Germany. . . . However, he [i.e, Winston Churchill] clinched matters by persuading Roosevelt and his advisers that priority should be given to defeating Germany first. This was perhaps the most important act of persuasion in Chuchill’s entire career, and it proved to be absolutely correct.
Indeed . . . Churchill had an uncanny gift for getting priorities right. For a stateman in time of war it is the finest possible virtue. “Jock” Colville, his personal secretary, said, “Churchill’s greatest intellectual gift was for picking on essentials and concentrating on them.”
“Getting priorities right”—picking and concentrating on essentials—is also a virtue for theologians.
Andy
This is a lessen I hope I can learn this coming year!
Happy New Year!
I never get tired of hearing, “The main thing in life is to keep the main thing in life the main thing in life’!
Andy,
Good reminder. Do you have some examples of right priorities for theologians? I’m curious.
Al Mohler’s essay on “theological triage” is a good example.
Thank you, Andy. Appreciated that from Mohler. As always, he’s balanced. Now if only we can keep the lines clearly drawn between, first/second/third-order matters.