Winston and King James: How the King James Bible Shaped and Sustained the English People

• In Event: What Winston Churchill Read: The Education of a Statesman

Abstract

This paper explores Winston Churchill’s understanding of the significance of the King James Bible translation to the English people, through his own four-volume History of the English Speaking Peoples. Without analyzing his personal religious beliefs, the author seeks to determine whether or not Churchill believed that the language in the KJ translation was instrumental in the development of the English, and why alternate translations (such as the new translation of the Common Prayer Book) were inferior to the King James version in terms of what new translations could offer to the character and development of his people.

Author

• Rhea Arlene Cardwell, Regent University