CREEDE HINSHAW: Does God take sides in war?

Does God take sides in war? Would God answer soldiers’ prayers to change the weather? Would 250,000 prayers be more effective than 25? Gen. George Patton and his chaplains answered these questions affirmatively.

Rick Atkinson’s book “The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe 1944-1945,” noted a well-known account of Gen. George Patton’s use of prayer in a story included in the 1970 movie “Patton.” The account has at least three variations: the Hollywood version (which was half fiction) and accounts by two chaplains involved.

In the dreary days of December 1944 in Alsace, France, Patton’s Third Army was severely demoralized by incessant rain, fog and cold that left the troops at a shivering standstill. The general summoned Third Army Chaplain, Col. James H. O’Neill, to his office. Here is Atkinson’s description of their conversation (page 349):

Patton: “Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army?”

O’Neill: “I’m afraid to admit it, but I do not believe that much praying is going on.”

Patton: “We must ask God to stop these rains. These rains are the margin that holds defeat or victory.”

O’Neill thumbed through some prayer books and composed this prayer which Patton approved:

“Restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.”

Patton ordered O’Neill to print 250,000 prayers and distribute them to the entire Third Army. A Christmas message signed by Patton was printed on the reverse.

Less than a week later, the desperate German army launched one last surprise attack in a bloody, failed attempt, known at the Battle of the Bulge, to avoid defeat. The Germans were initially successful and a sizable part of the U.S. Army was surrounded and facing extinction in Bastogne, Belgium, until, at the darkest hour, suddenly the weather cleared.

Thousands of planes, previously grounded, bombed the German attackers. Patton’s tanks and troops surged forward, crashing through the line and overwhelming the unprepared Germans. An improbable rescue from Patton’s army saved the day; the reversal of fortune was stunning.

Some people are reticent to attribute such events to divine interference. Abraham Lincoln famously noted that both sides in the Civil War prayed to the same God for success. Lincoln’s observation was accurate. But even so the Bible is clear that God answers prayer. At times — with surprise that seems to indicate divine involvement — rescue takes place. God sides with the oppressed, the victimized, the abused and the powerless.

Atkinson did not connect the dots between Patton’s prayer and the Bastogne rescue. His is not a religious history of World War II. But many others have noted the providential timing between the prayer, the break in the weather and an allied victory. Coincidence or divine incident?

Next week: An entirely different perspective on prayer and war.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw at [email protected].